


Treasure Planet, Retold

by ChildOfSolace



Series: HiJack/JimItri AU Collection [6]
Category: Anastasia (1997), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Treasure Planet (2002)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Character internalizaion, F/M, M/M, Not Too Explicit Though, Novelization, Past Child Abuse, Slow Build, Story Retelling, Temporary Character Death, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2020-09-23 01:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 42,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20331976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChildOfSolace/pseuds/ChildOfSolace
Summary: Jim and Dimitri loved reading from the same motion picture book since they were children. But one day, his best and only friend disappeared and Jim, hurt, has never been the same again.Years later, an encounter with a dead sailor, an attack from pirates, and a sought after map leads Jim to an Adventure of a lifetime, and perhaps a familiar face.





	1. "You wish it were real"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [9haharharley1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/9haharharley1/gifts).

> **CASTING**  
Jim - as himself  
Dimitri - Silver  
Hiccup - Dr. Doppler  
Jack - Captain Amelia  
Aster - Mr. Arrow  
Sarah - as herself  
Silver - Leland Hawkins  
Scroop - as himself  
Morph - as himself  
B.E.N. - as himself  
Mildew, Drago, Dagur, Alvin, Randall, (Monsters Inc), Chet, Earl, Javier, (Monsters University), Eret, Ruffnut, Tuffnut - Other pirates  
Toothless - Delilah  
Nathaniel Flint - as himself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected farewell

** _On the clearest of nights when the winds of the Etherium were calm and peaceful, the great merchant ships with their cargoes of Arcturian sura crystals felt safe and secure. Little did they suspect that they were pursued by pirates. And the most feared of all these pirates was the notorious Captain Nathaniel Flint._ **

** _"Fire!"_ **

** _"Aah!"_ **

_ **Like a dark Nightfury overtaking its prey—**_

"Hey, come on, don't hog the entire thing." A six year old brunette groused, shoving at the younger three year old who held the Motion picture book. "lemme hold it, Jim."

Jim snorted, pulling a tongue out. "No way, your head's bigger. I won't be able to see a thing!"

Suddenly, the door creaks open, and an irate woman, her long hair down, stepped in. In their surprise, Jim snapped the book shut and his friend fell off the bed with a resounding thud.

"James Pleiades Hawkins!" Sarah groused, a hand to her head, "I thought you were asleep an hour ago. You promised me you'd behave if I let Dimitri spend the night."

Jim pouted, feeling guilty. Dimitri climbed back up the bed, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Sorry miss Sarah, I asked him to." he lied, giving his friend a secret wink. Jim started to smile again, "It's my fault."

"Mom~" Jim chimed in, giving her his best puppy eyes, which sometimes gets him away with things, "We were just getting to the best part... A few more minutes? Please?"

Sarah sighed, smiling at the boys fondly. She definitely caught the older boy's wink. "Oh, can those eyes get any bigger? And now, they've multiplied." She shook her head and walked towards the two boys. She settled herself between them, "Scootch over." 

Jim cheered, taking his mom's arm and placing it around him before opening the book again. Dimitri suddenly felt out of place, but Sarah's maternal insticts kicked in, and she voluntarily wrapped her free arm around the orphan. She probably shouldn't be letting them get away with things this easily, but deep inside, she was happy her little boy befriended a lonely child, and that they got along so well despite their age gap. And Sarah was more than willing to let the orphan sleep over, even if it sometimes meant Jim slept passed his bed time. 

Together, the three watched the story unfold; A battle between space ships, pirates stealing treasures, and the vast void of space.

_ **Like a dark Nightfury overtaking its prey, ** **Flint and his band of renegades swooped in out of nowhere.** _

_ **"Ha ha ha ha!"** _

_ **And then, gathering up their spoils, they vanished without a trace...** _

"Oooh!" The three breathed, Sarah, just playing along though.

_ **Flint's secret trove was never found but stories have persisted that it remains hidden somewhere at the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Stowed with riches beyond imagination— the loot of a thousand worlds...** _

"Treasure Planet!"

The boys intoned together with the book's narrator, and Sarah chimed expectantly in the background. Finally, she takes the book and gave it to Dimitri. The boy placed it on the night stand. 

"Okay. Blow your nose." Sarah said, taking a cloth from her sleeping gown and pressing it against Jim's face.

Jim did as he was told, "How do you think Captain Flint did it, Mom?" Dimitri watched in amusement as his friend climbed up the bed post. He jumped off, Sarah tried to catch him but Jim landed on the mattress and dove into the sheets. "How'd he swoop in out of nowhere and vanished without a trace?"

"I have no idea." Sarah sang, before grabbing her child and roughhousing with him, "Come here, you, you li—I'm gonna get—oh! Pffft!" she blew a raspberry at her son's tummy, earning a giggle out of him.

Dimitri watched the two wistfully, wishing he knew his mom. But he was happy, as they pretty much treated him like family anyway.

"Okay," Sarah started, setting her son down and gesturing Dimitri to join him on the bed to which he obliged. "now it's time for you young spacers to go to sleep."

Dimitri replied with a yawn, stretching and getting himself comfortable. The bed was better than the one he used back at the orphanage. Jim was still far from wanting to sleep though.

"You think somebody'll ever find Treasure Planet?" 

Sarah sighed, placing the covers over the boys, "Sweetheart, I think it's more..." she tried finding the right word, "like a legend. Now come on, it's late. Get some sleep." she kissed his forehead before heading out and switching the lights off.

Jim huffed, turning to his sides, pouting. "I know it's real." he said adamantly.

"You wish it were real." Dimitri quipped, shaking his head. "Go to sleep, you little puppy." he said before closing his eyes.

Jim huffed, pulling his tongue out at his friend, even though he couldn't see. He turned to the night stand, and picked up the book once more. Dimitri heard him rustle about, fondly rolling his eyes, before he sat up and joined his friend.

** _There are nights when the winds of the Etherium so inviting in their promise of flight and freedom made one's spirit soar!_ **

───────

The boys continued believing in the lore of Treasure Planet, even after two years, just as much as they remained friends. They played with fake wooden swords and mock sparred. Jim played the role as a sailor and Dimitri pretended to be a pirate.

"_Arr_!"

"Jim!" Dimitri laughed, "that's my line!"

Jim laughed as wood met wood. "Don't care! Sounds cool."

"You dork," Dimitri shook his head, smirking as he pushed back at his sword. "shouldn't you be starting your reading lessons?"

Jim scowled, pouting. "No way, you don't need to go to school, I don't need to go to school." he said firmly.

"Doesn't work that way. I don't got folks who can pay for education, you do." Dimitri said and Jim's scowl deepened. The older boy used his friend's frustration to get the upper hand, and twisted the sword away from Jim. "Gotcha!" He grinned, catching the other sword with his free hand and pointing it to Jim. "Surrender."

"Hey! Cheat!"

Dimitri laughed, returning the weapon to him. Suddenly, it got dark as something large seemed to overshadow them. Jim's eyes seemed to widen, and when Dimitri turned, he sees a large man behind them.

"Hm," The muscled man smirk, scrutinizing the older lad. "Nice form, lad. I've been lookin' for a decent cabin boy..."

Alarmed, Dimitri turned towards Jim. "Run!"

Not needing to be told twice, the younger boy got up and immediately turned on his heels. Dimitri made to follow him quickly, but he cried out when he was picked off the ground. Jim stopped at the outcry, turning around briefly.

"Dimitri!"

"Get your parents, Jim!" His friend called back urgently, grunting as he was thrown roughly on the man's shoulders. "Hurry!"

Wide-eyed in panic, Jim nodded and immediately rushed back to the Benbow Inn. His mom was at the kitchen, and his dad was serving out meals to the patrons when he arrived. They stopped and stared at his arrival.

"Mommy! Daddy!" The younger boy practically cried, "DIMITRI! Someone's stealing him!"

Silver responded quickly, making sure he had his pistol before following Jim out. The young boy led the way, as fast as his small legs could carry him. But by the time they reached the alleyway, no trace of the man and Dimitri was present. A bystander pointed them to the right direction, and the two made their way to the port where a single ship started to set sail. Dimitri was seen, still flailing off from the man's shoulder until he was completely out of view, and Jim could only watch helplessly as it started to cast off. Silver went to find official authorities to report the incident.

But even after several months, no news about Dimitri's whereabouts were answered, and it haunted Jim ever since.


	2. "Beware... The One-armed Sailor"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dying man leaves a keepsake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **If anyone wondered why I love the idea of Silver as Jim's father, aside from the movie dynamics of theirs, well... Here:**  


** _Ten years later..._ **

On a solar surfer, a fifteen year old Jim Hawkins soared through high cliffs and across the skies. For this moment, the brunette felt free from his troubles, a moment to escape his repressed emotions. He took a breath as he shot up to the skies, reaching a certain point before intentionally loosening up on the accelerator. Jim closed his eyes, letting the adrenaline run through his veins as he started to free fall, spinning and twisting at thin air.

Just a few meters before he reached the ground, he released his solar sail and hang on to a handle attached to them.

"Yaaaa-hoo!"

High with the feeling of exhilaration, Jim failed to notice that he had gone over a construction sight and sounded the alarm, even breaking past the borders. He grinned as he easily dodged the obstacles presented and used them to his leisure. Then, up ahead, he sees a spinning wheel. The brunette grinned at the challenged, stepping down on a peddle to bring his sails down. As if he's done it a hundred times, he gets through it easily enough. Jim let out an excited cheer, grinning at his accomplishment. But the good mood immediately dampens as soon as he hears sirens blaring from behind him. 

With a roll of his eyes, he groaned and started slowing down.

"Great..."

**───────**

Thunder boomed from the skies, signifying the forthcoming of bad weather. But those inside the Benbow Inn paid it no mind, enjoying the meal prepared by the Hawkins.

"Mrs. Hawkins!"

Sarah carried a tray of four orders while signalling for another patron to wait. Her husband would love to help her out with serving the food, but the large man would have trouble navigating the crowded space. This meant the woman usually acted as a the only server during rushing meal hours, when their son was absent. Not to mention, Silver's legs, prosthetic and actual one alike, hadn't been very kind to him as of late. So he settled for kitchen cook duty, which was fine because he was just a good a cook as his wife. 

"I know, refill on the purp juice. Coming right up, Mrs. Dunwiddie." Sarah said as she made her way to a table where an alien family waited for their meal. "There we go. That's four powdered spheroids, two lunar eclipses, and it's a big bowl of Zorellian jelly worms for the big boy!"

"Awesome!"

Sarah smiled fondly at the young child, almost wistful, before making her way towards a single patron, a brunette, who was also a close family friend. She had been a nurse maid to his late mother, and of course, with her maternal instincts, acted like a mother to him after the death of both his parents.

"Sorry, Hamish." The woman sighed, placing an order of grilled salmon and mead, "It's been a madhouse here all morning. John's on his way to give Toothless a bucket of Icelandic cods."

Hamish, but commonly called Hiccup by his peers, simply smiled at the woman, not a single hint of impatience on his face. "No problem, Sarah. And thank you." he said. "your recipes are always worth waiting for."

She smiled back at him with fondness before returning to serve other customers.

Hiccup picked up his utensils, and started on his meal, till he realized he's got a visitor. A young visitor. It was a young drake, beaming up at him in wide-eyed wonder.

"Hey there, kid," The brunette smiled kindly, "you need something?"

She smiled shyly at him, indicating the meal. "Does it taste good?"

"How about you find out on your own?" Hiccup grinned, he cut a part of his salmon a bit. "Help yourself."

The drake youngling beamed, "Thank you!" She cheered, taking the entire plate's portion and leaving Hiccup with the one he separated for her.

"... Okay, so that just happened." The brunette sighed, shaking his head before setting the part back on the plate. "guess I can only blame myself. Still cute, though."

Sarah chuckled, having seen what happened. "Oh yes, they're so adorable at that age." she cooed.

"Can't argue that," Hiccup conceded, if that had been a slightly older kid drake, though, he might've said something snarky behind its back. "Speaking of which, how's Jim doing?"

Sarah huffed, shaking her head, but looked somewhat relieved, "Much better." she said and started placing some plates on a dish carrier rack, "I know he had some rough spots earlier this year, but I really think that he's starting to turn a corner."

Apparently speaking too soon, the Inn's door flies open, and two robotic officials appeared, with the aforementioned brunette between them. Sarah widened her eyes, dropping the carrier rack of plates. Hiccup winced, a hand held over his eyes. 

"Mrs. Hawkins?"

"Jim!"

"Ooh... wrong turn."

Jim tried to play it cool, as if nothing was wrong. "Okay. Thanks for the lift, guys..." he made to move their mechanical hands away.

The officers only held on firmly. "Not so fast." one said sternly. Even though this scenario had happened several times over, it still had to be done. Before a written report was made, a direct, verbal report to those involved, especially if possible, must be done first. "We apprehended your son operating a solar vehicle in a restricted area. Moving violation Nine - Zero - Four - Section fifteen, paragraph, um..." The officer paused, encountering a mental block.

Jim supplied, already having it memorized, as he rub at his face awkwardly. "Six."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Sarah huffed, "Jim!" she hissed.

Jim pouted, looking down.

"As you are aware, ma'am," The officer continued, "this constitutes a violation of his probation."

Sarah approached the trio, "Yes, yes. No, I understand. Um, but could we just—" She trailed off as someone interrupted.

"Um. Ahem." Hiccup coughed, interjecting himself, feeling the need to, as he saw the boy as something like a brother to him, "If I could cut in quickly... So, I'm a noted explorer, Hamish Haddock the Third, maybe you've heard of me?"

"The outliving relative of the late Haddocks, Stoick and Valka, once known as a '_runt of the litter Hiccup_', we are aware." One of the officers said mechanically. Hiccup made a look at the title. Jim rolled his eyes at the attempt to salvage the situation. "Unless you are the boy's father, we request that you back off the matter."

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, Silver struts in as Hiccup retreated back to his table. "Aye, that would be me. Stepfather though, sure you understand." he said, eyeing his son with a raised brow, as if to say '_didn't we just have a talk about this recently_'. Jim didn't comment, just glared back sulkily. The cyborg man sighed, shaking his head. "What's all this hullabaloo, then?" 

"As it stands, due to repeated violations of statute fifteen-C we have impounded his vehicle." The officers intoned together, and alternately, "Any more slip-ups will result in a one-way ticket to Juvenile Hall."

"Kiddie hoosegow."

"The slammo."

Silver nodded, taking his son from them as they finally let him. "Mighty generous of ye to offer final warnings," he stressed the next statement, eyeing Jim sternly, even going so far as to use his laser eye. "Thank ye, officers. Won't be an issue again."

"We see his type all the time, sir, ma'am."

"Wrong choices."

"Dead-enders."

"Losers." Jim scowled indignantly, looking at the officers, glaring at them. As if to mock him, one officer chimed in a sing-song tone, "You take care now."

"Let's motor."

At that note, the officers rolled away. Sarah and Silver stared at Jim for a moment, taking note of the silence and looking up to realize the whole inn had gone quiet as they observed the situation. When they did though, all the patrons resumed their meal and Hiccup directed his attention to his mead.

Silver shook his head, telling Jim that "Ya can't keep doing this, lad. Gotta fix up your act, all right?" and leaving it at that. He wasn't all that accustomed to disciplinary confrontations yet, much as he cared for the kid and knew it came with the territory of being a father. He did have to get back to his cooking, though. And they can't cause much of a scene by doing it together.

Plus, it was better for the blood-related parent to be the one to reprimand the child first.

"Jim, I have had it." Sarah groused, exasperated. "Do you want to go to Juvenile Hall? Is that it?"

Jim remained unresponsive. He looked down and noticed the carrier rack of dishes. He picked them up and started arranging it to be brought into the kitchen, delaying the confrontation for as long as he can.

"Jim? Jim, look at me." Sarah begged her son, and his resolve to remain indifferent started to waver. "It's been hard enough for me and John to keep this place afloat by ourselves without you going—"

Jim turned to his mother, "Mom, you and pops are doing fine. And I'm fine. Really, it's no big deal." he insisted, "There was nobody around. Those cops just won't get off my—"

Sarah fixed him with a stern, no-nonsense, '_that's not the point_' expression. Jim immediately quieted down. And turned back to the dishes.

"Forget it."

Sarah sighed as the customer from earlier once more called on her for a refill, and addressed her son one last time before heading off.

"Jim, I just don't want to see you throw away your entire future."

Jim scoffed as his mom walked away and he went into the kitchen himself, "Yeah, what future?"

**───────**

Thunder continued to grumble amidst the dark, overcast sky. Jim sat on top of the roof of the Benbow Inn, flicking pebbles down as signs of rain slowly materialized. He sighed heavily as he leaned back to the chimney, beside a window where his parents were cleaning up, with Hiccup as the only remaining patron.

"Jim's right, though. I think you both are managing all right." Hiccup offered, even if it sounded like a platitude, "Running this business, while raising a, um, teenager going through the motions."

Jim snorted, rolling his eyes. That's always how people chalk up his feelings. It never really occurred to them that it wasn't easy to get over such a haunting and traumatizing event as losing your childhood friend, not to mention his only friend. From where he sat, he can hear and see their conversation flow perfectly. He frowned, feeling guilty at the troubled expressions of his parents though.

Silver sighed, grunting as he worked on his prosthetic leg, "Managing it? We're at the end of our ropes." he said. "I dunno howta talk with my boy anymore. Don't think it's because I'm his stepfather, either. We were just fine before that incident."

"Yes... Ever since poor Dimitri got taken, well, Jim's just never recovered." Sarah agreed, coming over to massage her husband's shoulder. "But you know how smart he is. He built his first solar surfer when he was eight!"

Jim smiled a bit at the memory, but it immediately faltered as he longed for his friend at that moment, still wishing he had shared the achievement with him. What Sarah said next didn't improve his mood, either.

"And yet... he's failing at school, he is constantly in trouble, and when I talk to him he's like a stranger to me..." Sarah shook her head, taking a seat beside Silver. "I don't know. Hamish, we've tried everything—"

Jim shook his head, this conversation doing nothing to lift him up of his sour mood. Then suddenly, he heard engine noises. And not a very good kind. As soon as he looked up, he sees an aircraft soaring by, black smoke coming out of it. Fortunately, it managed to land on the edge of a parking space, just short of falling off. Alarmed, he slide down the roof of the inn and rushed towards the vehicle. 

"Hey, Mister?" The brunette called out awkwardly at his approach, "Mister, you're okay in there, right?" He called out, banging at the windows repeatedly. Before startling back as a claw slammed back against it.

At the next moment, a large salamander alien stumbled out, dressed in some overcoat. He coughed and retched. Jim frowned in concern, leaning down to check on him better and yelping when the salamander grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"He's a-comin'. Can you see him? That awful, permanent sneer, the cruel mouth with a scar, he be like the devil himself!"

Jim made a look as the salamander finally lets him go, "Uh, hit your head there pretty hard, didn't ya?"

"He's after me chest..." The alien huffed instead of answering, "that brute of a warrior, and his band of cutthroats." He strained as he picked up a chest and placed it on his shoulders. Jim didn't think that was a good idea at all. "But they'll have to pry it from old Billy Bones' cold, dead fingers before I—argh!" The salamander, Billy Bones, suddenly collapsed, writhing in pain.

Jim widened his eyes, immediately moving in for the assist. "Oh, my— Uh, come on, give me your arm." He huffed, throwing the man's large arm over his shoulder and he grunted as he supported his weight and struggled with the chest himself. Of all his classes, Jim's glad he still went to gym more often than most. At least, for the warm up parts. "That's it."

"Good lad..."

Jim huffed, concentrating on the task at hand rather than responding. "Mom and pop's gonna love this."

**───────**

As the rain started to come down, Sarah activates the curtains to display a lovely spring time design, of colorful flowers. "Thanks for listening, Hamish." she heaved a sigh and settled back down on a chair once more.

Silver nodded, wrapping an arm around her slightly. "It helps, lad."

"It's going to be okay," Hiccup said awkwardly, knowing it sounded like another platitude. He went over, giving Sarah a smile and Silver a meaningful pat on the back. "You'll see." The brunette left it at that, gathering his things as he made to leave.

Sarah turned to Silver, grateful for the cook who stayed by their side even after Jim's father left the moment she was pregnant with him. "I keep dreaming one day l'll open that door and there he'll be just the way he was." She smiled wistfully, reaching for her pendant, pressing button and images of a younger Jim was shown, some of them with Dimitri in it. "A smiling, happy little boy, playing with his friend, and begging me to adopt him, too." she chuckled.

Hiccup smiled, letting the warm scene be the last thing he sees, before opening the door to leave... When he see a worn out Jim instead, and he gawks at the giant alien salamander that laid heavily on top of him, dropping his things in the process. 

Sarah sees this, and widened her eyes, horrified. "James Pleiades Hawkins!" she exclaimed as Jim, with Hiccup's help now, carried the stranger inside.

"Guys, he's hurt..." Jim huffed as he dropped himself and the man down, along with the chest. He left Hiccup to arrange them in a better position, relieved to finally have the weight of him, ".. bad!"

The alien heaved, as if it was a strain just to breathe. "Me chest, lad...." He gasped and groaned. Regaining himself immediately, Jim pushed the chest closer. "He'll be comin' soon..." Billy Bones rasped out, pressing on the chest in systematic fashion, and took a clothed item from the chest, "Can't let them find this...."

"Who's coming?" Jim asked, yelping when he was, once again, pulled by the front of his chest, the item being shoved to his hands. "Wha—"

"The one-armed sailor..." Billy Bones barely got out, "Beware... The one-armed sailor."

Jim widened his eyes at he desperation in his voice. Then, he felt lighter, as the salamander leaned away from him, lying back to the floor, breathing heavily until it finally, simply, stopped. The brunette frowned, wondering how many traumatizing events would he have to encounter in his life. 

Thunder rumbled, at time with Sarah's horrified gasps, pressing herself against Silver who held her tight. Suddenly, an even louder noise resounded, along with suspicious head lights. Alarms going off in his head, Jim pocketed the item he sort of inherited from Billy Bones before making his way to the windows. As an afterthought, he leaned hard beside the switch, only opening the curtains slightly. It was enough to see they weren't alone, and whoever was coming weren't there for their hospitable service. 

"Quick!" Jim reached for Silver's gun, shoving it back to him, and shoving his parents up the stairs. "Come on, gotta go!"

Hiccup followed quickly, crying out in alarm as laser shots were fired through the windows. "He's got the right idea! No fighting, more evading!"

Whoever the hostiles were, they wasted no time in storming into the inn, ransacking the place as they were hard press searching for something. Meanwhile, the Hawkins and a Haddock were rushing to make their escape. Hiccup stopped in front of a window, and pushed it opened. He whistled, and in the next moment, he sees something move below.

"Toothless! Buddy, come here!"

A dragon below reacted to the brunette, moving near the building and yelping excitedly. He would fly, except he was attached to a carriage.

"Stay! We'll, uh, we'll come to you!" Hiccup called out, before turning to the Hawkins, the parents of the bunch looking shock.

Silver groused, "Boy, I know ya ain't suggesting what I think ye are!"

Hiccup tried to convince them it was the only way and they continued arguing about it in front of the window, Jim noticed the noises below were starting to grow more frustrated. Something inside him, however, was pulling him to looking over the ongoing riot below. As if something he longed for was there, a wistful feeling bubbled against his chest. But before he could make his way towards the edge to have a look, he can see the shadows of the pirates, and that they were making their way to them.

"For the last time," Hiccup stressed out, "if we don't go right—"

"NOW!"

Without giving them a choice, Jim shoved them all out of the window and sent them falling down, to the relative safety of Hiccup's carriage. Used to falling vertigo, the explorer got over his disoriented state first. Hiccup grabbed for the reins and started their escape.

"Go, bud! Go!" Hiccup barked in a frenzy state. "Go! That's it! That's it! Go!" 

Toothless didn't take offense, seeing the state of the inn and how they were being attacked so he simply quickened his pace. Silver held on to Sarah securely as she moved to look back to the Benbow Inn burning down.

Their home.

Sarah sobbed, pulling herself back into the carriage and leaning her head on Silver's chest. Jim frowned, and even though he knows he didn't do anything wrong, he felt guilty.

Then again, he was the one who let a stranger into their home.

_Even when I try to do the right thing, it still blows up in my face... _

Jim sighed dejectedly, leaning back in resignation. He pocketed his hands, before startling. He pulled out the item the man left him. He frowned, unwrapping it completely, only to find a strange, bronze, orb.

_What the hell is this?_


	3. "I'm going to set things right!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A legend, but not just a story

At Hiccup's mansion, they've situated themselves inside his big library. Apparently, after his parents died, he spent most of his time in there so it was the most homey and coziest place in the estate. Even Toothless had his own spot, snuggling close to the fire. Sarah settled herself on a solo couch, and Silver sat on a chair beside her. Jim took a blanket and moved towards his parents, meaning to drape the sheet on his mother when Hiccup walked in.

"Just talked with the constabulary," The brunette started, and by his tired tone, it didn't seem like it was a good talk. "Those vandals have fled without a trace. I'm sorry, guys. There's no easy way to say this, but the old Benbow Inn has burned to the ground."

Sarah lets out a broken whimper, wrapping the blanket Jim gave her tightly around her. Silver patted her knee soothingly, understanding her mourning; the Inn's been in her family for generations. Jim wished he could say something to comfort his mother, but he really didn't know what. Knowing his record, he'd probably make it worst. He settled for walking to lean against Toothless. The dragon sniffed at him once in acknowledgment, before going back to enjoy his respite.

"Ahem." Hiccup cleared his throat awkwardly, having expected Jim to offer his own sentiments, "Well, they've went through a lot of trouble for that odd little sphere..."

The family were content in letting the explorer fill in the silence. Jim's eyes wondered around the bookshelves embedded on the walls before he reached out and took the orb, fiddling around with it. Noticing that there were some indention when he pressed on some particular spots. Jim blinked when they receded even further into the orb once he clicked on all of them. The brunette smirked, wondering if it was some kind of toy, or better, some secret spy gear or weapon. He took notice of the pattern, and turned the orb, matching the lines accordingly.

"Those markings are strange, though. I've been around places, and they're not like anything I've ever encountered." Hiccup continued speaking, as he felt rambling on about things that didn't really matter to anyone else now but him was better than awkward silence. "Not Terran, Coronaian, Berkian, Kavadran... Or any of those old civilazations I've been studying since my university years. It might be something newly discovered, but I might have to visit some old national libr—" The explorer trailed off when the room suddenly grew dim, and he wondered if the teenager or his dragon accidentally tripped over something. "Hey!" 

Hiccup's outcry caught in his throat, however, as he watched Toothless shy away from the younger boy, and the orb on Jim's hand as it was releasing a strange green light. Sarah and Silver blinked, in awe, standing up from their current position. The green light spread across the room, before some holographic imagery of planets and galaxies were presented.

"Odin's beard," The explorer swore, astonished. "it's a map!" Hiccup began looking around, trying to see if he recognized anything. Jim looked around, still impressed by the spectacle he incidentally caused. Hiccup sees Toothless sniffing at some image before snarling and moving back. He approached it and gawked, "Wait. Look over here, guys. Here we are, the planet Montressor."

Jim smiled, approaching Hiccup to get a closer look of their home planet as the older man reached for it himself. They both gasped when it started a rotation motion with the holograms. Sarah and Silver explored the illustrations themselves, the man showing her some places he's been to in his young, space sailing days. Toothless, seeming to realize that the images weren't a threat, looked at each of them, trying to touch them only to have the fall away before reforming a distance from him.

"That's the Berserkian Cloud! Whoo! The Tsar Lunar Galaxy!" Hiccup grinned as he named anything familiar, sharing looks with Jim who listened attentively, a space fanatic himself. "That's the Nightlight Cross, and that's the Blackdeath Abyss."

The explorer's yet to travel across space, unsure where he'd wish to start exploring and usually kept his expeditions in-land and Terran. Hiccup's already excavated most Berkian artifacts, among others, possible with the help of Toothless, and gave them out to museums. But the brunette always wanted to take a space voyage, as it seemed like the only part of the world he has yet to explore. So Hiccup made sure to keep up his astronomical studies, and he had a feeling that maybe this map could help him decide where to start, in terms of intergalactic travels.

A startled gasp from Jim got Hiccup's attention, and he looked around for whatever may have caused it. He was struck dumb as well, "Wait, wait, that can't— Can it? IS IT?!"

"Treasure Planet..." Jim said, still in awe.

Hiccup blinked, eyes wide, and in disbelief. "No. I'm seeing things." He said, unable to get his hopes high.

"That's Treasure Planet!" Jim repeated, a grin spreading across his face. "I'd recognized that Planet anywhere! Flint's trove, the loot of a thousand worlds!"

Hiccup couldn't deny it at that point, not with someone in the room just as excited about it as he was. "You know what this means?" The explorer turned on Jim, practically jumping in excitement.

"It means," Jim smirked, eyeing the orb with more interest than ever, "that all that treasure is only a boat ride away." 

Hiccup grinned back at the boy, absolutely elated with the notion. "Whoever brings it back would hold an eternal place atop the pantheon of explorers! And at last, maybe he'd no longer have to be called a runt of a litt—!" The explorer trailed off as the holograms disappeared abruptly. "—er. What just happened?"

"Mom, pops, this is it." Jim beamed, walking towards his parents. Silver had a sense of foreboding, and Sarah wasn't too far behind, "This is the answer to all our problems."

Silver sighed, "Jimbo, you might wanna rethink that." he urged, looking at Sarah for support.

"Your dad's right, Jim." Sarah stressed firmly, "there is absolutely no way—"

Jim huffed, interrupting quickly, determined to have his say on this, "Don't you remember, all those stories?" 

"That's all they were—stories, based on a legend!" Silver persuaded, "A cautionary tale not to chase after, lest you lose yourself." 

The teenager wasn't having it, though. He wasn't going to let this be chalked up as if it were just a fairy tale. It was the thing he and Dimitri bonded over the most, and even if it was going to remain a lost memory, proving its existence would be a good way to honor his lost friend. And helping his family situation was also a good consideration.

"With that treasure we could rebuild the Benbow a hundred times over!"

"Well, this is, it's just," Sarah faltered, not knowing where to start. She recognized that fire in Jim's eyes, though. It was similar to when he was creating a solar surfer when he was eight, no matter how many times he failed at first, he stuck to it until he finally achieved his goal. This situation seemed all too familiar. "—oh, my." She fretted, a hand to her forehead.

Thankfully, Silver jumped in at her moment of loss. "It's not worth it, my boy," he insisted. "I tried and failed to find that place years ago, and look where that got me." He gestured to his mechanical eye, arm, and leg. "I ain't letting the same happen to ya. Hiccup, lad, tell him, explain to him how ridiculous this is."

"Uh," Hiccup blinked, looking at Jim's scowl first, before taking in Silver's intimidating form, "It's... definitely a stretch, you know. I mean, going out in explorations is tricky business, dangerous even, you could get hurt. Furthermore, even I haven't really gone through a space expedition yet..." He started as he slowly inched away from the man. Then, he noticed Jim pouting and rolling his eyes at him as Silver and Sarah smiled at him smugly. Hiccup smirked as he grabbed for his knapsack. "... That's why I'm going with you."

Jim blinked first, before turning back to Hiccup with a wide grin. The explorer laughed, one of those moments he thought he was actually related to the kid. He'd make an adorable little brother, too.

"HAMISH!"

"LAD!"

Hiccup moved further away from them, and towards Jim, handing him the knapsack. "It'll be fine! I mean, think about it, this is Treasure Planet! I'll make sure to keep him safe from danger," The explorer persuaded, "I'll even use my savings to finance the expedition, get the best of the best to ensure both our safety. I'll commission a ship, hire an outstanding captain, and a sturdy crew."

Sarah narrowed her eyes, "You're not serious." she deadpanned.

"This could be the highlight of my career! All my life, I've been waiting for the right time, the opportunity to explore space and here it is screaming," Hiccup declared with a wide grin, taking Jim in his arms and, to the teenager's surprise and chagrin, spun around with him across the room. "'_Go, Hamish! Go where no one has ever gone, Hamish! You're the best explorer, Hamish_!'"

Silver huffed, shaking his head in exasperation as he reached for the two brunettes and made to pull them apart from the silly display. "Enough of your crazy antics!" He groused.

"You're both grounded!" Sarah followed up. "End of discussion!" she declared, turning away from them and covering her face, as if trying to calm down.

This stress was too much, even for her.

"Mom, look." Jim called out tentatively, "I know that I keep messing everything up, and I know..." he bit his lip, before sighing heavily and owning up to his mistakes for the last few years, "that I let you down."

Sarah stared at her son, frowning. She couldn't deny that, and she wasn't stupid, but it still hurt her to realize that Jim was aware of the fact and to hear her beloved son affirm it outloud. She could only hope that Jim knew it didn't mean she loved him any less.

"But," Jim took a breath and pushed on, "this is my chance to make it up to you. I'm gonna set things right!" The young brunette declared adamantly.

Sarah looked at her son, indecisive. She looked at Silver for support, and she didn't know what to make out of his expression, one that seemed to be realizing the logic and sense of what Jim was trying to convince them into, what he was convincing them into letting him do.

"Sarah? Silver?" Hiccup beckoned to them once more, gesturing them aside for a moment, "If you'd hear me out?" The two conceded, walking towards the man, "You've said so yourselves, guys. You've tried everything. And, to be honest, expensive therapy sessions and behavioral rehabilitation is a lot worse than a few character-building months in space."

Sarah considered this, before raising an eye brow at the man. "Are you saying this because it's the right thing..." she started, "or because you really want to go?"

"I really, really, really, really want to go..." The explorer answered, not keen on lying about that. Sarah and Silver rolled their eyes, half in amusement, and half not. "and it's the right thing. So, you know, bit of both." Hiccup followed up next.

Sarah sighed once more, before looking back to her son who still looked like he was sulking. She heaved a sigh, before she walked back towards him, "Jim..." she started, reaching out to him and pushing back a stray fringe, "I don't want to lose you." she admitted in a broken voice.

"Mom..." Jim started to smile, reaching for her hand and holding it against his chest. "you won't. I'll make you proud." He promised, and she managed a weak smile. Jim looked up to Silver. "Pops, promise to take care of mom while I'm away?"

Silver snorted, before lightly shoving the boy a bit, as if offended he still needed to ask, "Already done, son." 

"Well. uh. ahem," Hiccup stepped in, joining the little family circle. They all laughed as Toothless bounded over himself, wrapping them securely around his body and tail, "Guess it's settled then, I'll begin preparations at once."

The explorer stroke the area behind the dragon's ears, a little sad because he's certain it would be impossible to bring him along. He'd have to stay within the ship at all times, considering space's lack of oxygen if one strayed too far from any ship and for a long time period. And he doubted Toothless would be happy about staying put, especially in the length of months. At least here, he'd have the Silver-Hawkins couple to entertain him though, and vice versa. 

"Jim, buddy," Hiccup started, turning towards the young teenager, and placing a hand on his shoulder, "ready to go on a treasure hunt?"

Jim grinned widely, "Absolutely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack coming up in the next chapter! Yay!
> 
> If you're wondering why I'm not making Silver join in the expedition, well, I already implicitly implied he had a bad leg, and I didn't want Sarah to be alone while Jim was gone this time. I'm sure she was taken care of when Jim and Dr. Doppler went off to space, but it wasn't really shown how. And really, losing your home then worrying about losing your son too... It couldn't have been easy on her.
> 
> Plus, it just won't work for a retelling if Silver is there.


	4. "Our ship, the RLS Legacy!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim meets new faces, and a single familiar one

Outside the mining world that is the Planet Montressor, across space, lays Crescentia, a crescent shaped artificial satellite that orbits around the planet. From Montressor's surface, Crescentia resembles a crescent moon. It serves as the world's spaceport, and thus as a center of trade. It is ruled over by Tsar Lunar, and the Royal Navy Academy, both a schooling institution as well as the Army's head quarters. Port Ivy, located west of Crescentia, there arrives an airship.

Jim comes out from, carrying the knapsack Hiccup gave him. The young teenager marveled at the grand air port, his first time being anywhere outside Montressor. He wasn't even officially on the ship voyaging to Treasure Planet, and he was already trembling with excitement.

"Jim! Hey bud, wait for me!"

Hiccup followed after him, dressed in an armoresque outfit, partially made of leather and of Toothless's dragon scales, as Hiccup collected whenever the creature sheds for the purpose of making some unique equipment. The explorer said it also functions as a flight suit, helping him glide through the air whenever he happens to fall of Toothless during explorations, intentional or not.

"Again, that really looks awesome." Jim remarked, eyeing the suit. "You think you can make me one?"

Hiccup snorted, shoving the boy a bit in good nature. "As if," he said. "you're already a hot shot with the solar surfer. Not giving you this one, too."

"Right," Jim smirked, with a little eye roll. Ever since the man helped him out with convincing his parents, they've been closer than ever. And maybe, though he'd never admit it out loud, the teenager was starting to see how the explorer was actually as cool as he was dorky. "So, where is this ship you booked for us?"

Hiccup shrugged, checking his own satchel and making sure nothing was left behind. "Can't be too far," he said, "Come on, it should be at the central square." He looked back, seeing Jim still having his eyes wonder about the sights before him. He chuckled as he took his arm and dragged him along.

The explorer promised his parents he'd look after him, and he wasn't going to fall short on the get-go. Jim willingly let himself be dragged, content in letting the man lead the way so he can take in the sights better. He sees cadets and official soldiers alike going through laps around the Royal Navy Academy, and wondered what it'd be like to be a student there. His school was bland and boring, mostly educating them with some basics, but focused in ensuring the most graduates ended up as miners of Montressor. He didn't really like school all that much, obviously, but Jim thinks that he'd be more patient about it if it got him a future outside mining.

Occupied by his musings and wonder, Jim accidentally bumped into Hiccup.

"Ah, sorry didn't stop you, but there it is, Jim, our ship!" The explorer grinned, pushing the teenager in front of him for a better view, "The R.L.S. Legacy!"

Jim's jaw absolutely drops as he marveled at the large voyaging ship. "Whoa..." He breathes out in wonder.

The sailors, already on board, and the crew seem hard at work in preparation to the voyage. At the center of the deck was a tall, muscular, and handsome man with bunny ears for, well, his ears. They twitched and turned as he supervise the preparations, barking out orders and warning to the hired crew. Although he wore a casual, light material shirt, underneath a dark, gray, overcoat, there was an air of importance about him. Though, the colorful egg pendant would throw people off. 

"Well, come on then," Hiccup jolted him out of his musings once more, "we didn't come all this way just to look at it."

Taking the cue, Jim immediately rushed up the boarding plank and onto the deck. "How cool is this?" He grinned, looking up the furled sails, and accidentally bumping into someone in the process. He blinked, turning around to see a lizard alien, and he had stepped on his tail. Earning him a glare from the purple reptile, "Ah, sorry about that. I didn't mean—"

"Well, ya did." The lizard scowled deeply, "So what are you gonna do about it, kid? Got some money on you?"

Jim blinked, inching back a bit. "Uh, no, I—" He trailed off as Hiccup stepped in, holding up some pieces of grass to the lizard's face. The young brunette raised a brow, "Uh, what is—"

"Forgiven." The alien snatched up the grass, and walked off, inhaling it. "Ah, that's the stuff..."

Hiccup shrugged, grinning sheepishly at the younger boy, "Toothless, and most dragons, seem to treat grass as how cats treat catnip. Dragons are reptiles, he's a reptile. I took a shot," he explained, "Good thing it worked. First day in, we can at least tell your parents you didn't get into a fight."

"It's not like I always—" Jim trailed off, thinking back of his days in school, and relented, "Fine, guess I never did actively avoided it."

Hiccup snickered, ruffling the boy's hear before walking towards the man with bunny ears, seemingly being the one in charge. "Ahoy there, Captain. Everything shipshape?"

"Shipshape it is, mate," The man acknowledged, turning towards the duo, placing his hands on his hips. "but I'm not the captain." his bunny ears pointed to a figure flying around, "The captain's as flighty as a snowflake."

Hiccup and Jim blinked, looking up to see a young, white-haired man soaring high, circulating the ship until he sees the bunny man beckon to him. He immediately flew over, using a crooked stick to navigate better, before landing between them.

"Aster, I've gotta hand it to you," The captain grinned at the bunny man, "you clean up nicely."

Aster, as he was called, simply smirked, "Gonna assume you mean the ship, cause I've already worn this get up a thousand times in our voyages, mate. And it's all in a day's work; someone's gotta clean up after ya, Snowflake," he said, "Lucky for you, ya got me."

The captain simply rolled his eyes, in good humor, before turning and having himself face to face with the explorer. They stared at each other for a moment, at loss for words it seems. Hiccup especially, realizing with the up close view, that the other man was quite attractive, he'd even go as far as to say he was beautiful. Well, in a handsome way. The captain regained composure first.

"Ah," The white haired man smirked, "You're the Hiccup that hired my services, I assume?"

Hiccup huffed, and Jim held back a snicker. "Actually, the name's Hamish; a noted explorer, in fact." he said.

"Really? An explorer that needs help exploring?" A playful smirk formed on the Captain's lips, Hiccup couldn't help but blush as he couldn't help staring at it. Whether the man noticed or not, he didn't indicate, "don't you have your own ship?"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his head, "Actually, I have a dragon..." he started, "So for a space voyage, it would..."

"Prove quite difficult, hm. I suppose that's justified," He allowed, and the brunette continued to pout. Finally, the captain let out a cheery laugh. "I was just teasing. Heard of your contributions to various museums, definitely bragging rights worthy. At least, that's what our head commander's gut says, and it's rarely wrong." He noted, easing up on the brunette a bit. And Hiccup can't help but feel a sense of pride, having his accomplishments finally recognized and spoken about. "I'm Captain Jackson, of the Guardian militia. Simply Captain Jack will do, though." He continued, taking Hiccup's hand and casually giving it a shake. "late of a few run-ins with the Nightmare forces. Really epic but the paper works that went with it were, meh." Jack turned to the bunny man once more, "You've met my first officer, E. Aster Bunnymund. Swift, tough, dependable, thorough, brave, through and through."

"All right, ya sap," Aster snorted, throwing an arm around the captain. "what do you want this time?"

Jack snickered, "I'll let you know in our quarters."

"Ahem," Hiccup coughed to reclaim their attention, feeling a bit attacked for some reasons, "excuse me. I hate to interrupt this... lovely banter... but may I introduce to you, Jim Hawkins?" He waved the teenager over. Jack and Aster nodded towards him courteously, "Jim, you see, he's the one who unlocked the map—"

Suddenly alarmed, Jack shot his hand forwards, covering Hiccup's mouth promptly. Jim startled, moving back. "Gonna have to stop you right there," he said, eyeing the passing sailors being led by an old one, and they've all paused in their work momentarily.

"Oy, this ain't a side attraction," Aster barked at them, "get back to work, ya lazy blokes."

The sailors scowled at him before resuming what they've been doing.

Jack sighed in the relief, taking his hand off Hiccup's face. He crossed his arms, though, giving him a pointed look. Hiccup looked chagrined, but more confused than anything. The captain shook his head, forcing himself to hide a smile of amusement, _For a notably intelligent explorer, he's lacking a bit in the common sense department... _He thought, as he cleared his throat. "Hiccup, is it?"

"Hamish."

"All right, Sir Hic." Jack quipped, much to the explorer's displeasure, "I'd like a word with you in my stateroom."

───────

They were brought into a neat, but practically bare room, consisting of only of a table set, a cabinet, and one long couch. There was a map on the table along with a compass. It had the similar contents as that of the orb, same galaxies and whatnots, although unlike the one Jim had, it was the traditional parchment type.

"Sir Hiccup, although you have arranged this voyage, generously financed it even, I'd have to say disclosing confidential information such as what you were about to declare in front of those sailors, well," Jack paused, as if considering how to be nice about it. "well, let's just say you're a greenhorn. And it's better if you don't get too comfortable, more to the point, too trusting even though it's a crew you hired."

Hiccup huffed, still peeved that the guy wouldn't address him with his real name. He only let family and closed friend, like the Hawkins, call him that. "I'll have you know," he started. "I'm no Rookie, and I know I may not look like much to you, but I can definitely hold my own against—"

"Can I just see this map you were so ready to blab about to unwanted ears?" Jack forestalled. "It's better that it's kept under lock and key."

Hiccup snorted, obviously not being pleased at being interrupted. But he gestured for Jim to hand it over, as the captain did make a point. As much as Jim wanted to refuse, with all men present against him about the matter, he surrendered the map.

"Crikey, that's a beauty." Aster mused, as Jack held it in his hands. "must be more to it than just a map, if the maker went all through the hard science to craft it."

Jack hummed in agreement before placing it inside a cabinet, locking it away at the same place where weapons like pistols and rifles were kept. "Something to look into while we're in this voyage," he said, before turning towards the two brunettes once more. "Also, I usually don't care for titles that much, but as I am unfamiliar with this crew, it's important than I'm addressed as Captain during this expedition. Gotta run this ship with an iron fist, and all that boring stuff."

"Aye, Captain." Aster said with a roll of his eyes, smirking and looking at Jack fondly. Hiccup frowned, taking note of this. The first officer turned towards the other two, raising a brow. "Well?"

Hiccup and Jim exchanged peeved expression, before relenting, "Aye, sir."

"See, wasn't so hard, was it?" Jack smirked, amused with the brunettes. If he didn't know better, he'd say they were brothers. He didn't worry that Hiccup would be kept in line, and follow procedures with little qualms. But he was a youth once before, and he knew how much things could get out of hand unsupervised. Aster being witness to most of his lesser moments back then. He folded his arms behind his back, addressing the younger one at that moment, "Well, it's about time we launch the ship. Before then, Aster, show the young lad to the galley as he'll be working with the cook, Mr. Bludvist."

Jim gaped, as if not believing his ears. "The what? The _cook_?" 

"Hate to break it to ya, anklebiter," Aster snickered, a hand to Jim's shoulder, "but this ain't a luxury liner. You sailing with us, you're working with us."

───────

Jim huffed indignantly as he trudged after the bunny eared man. He didn't assume he would simply enjoy the ride to Treasure Planet like the man implied, he wasn't stupid. But he did assume it would involve more sails work or something. Being up on the shrouds, securing ropes and such. If all he was gonna do is help the cook like bussing tables as he did before, it was no different from the work he did at home.

"I can see that scowl, mate, turn it around." Aster nudged him a bit, "buck up. A little hard work never hurt anybody."

Jim rolled his eyes, "Is that another order from the captain, sir?"

"Heh, naw. And don't think he's doing this just to spite ya," Aster winked, patting his back. "Snowflake probably gets ya and sees where you're comin' from more than you think; he's the youngest in his batch to be promoted as captain, and still is the youngest captain around. But he's a fine one, guarantee you, that."

Jim raised a brow, "And how does that relate to him understanding where I'm coming from?"

"People judged him because of how young he is, thinking him to be incompetent." Aster offered, "admittedly, I did too, most probably cause I was just worried about his safety. But that's the moral, anklebiter. Don't let'em put ya down cause ya're younger, show 'em you're just as good as them, maybe better." He smirked, seeing Jim starting to smile. "And better men follow orders."

Jim scowled once more, and Aster laughed as he expected it. "Always a catch, huh?" He groused. The brunette trudged down the steps to the galley, and stops short, seeing a large man surrounded by kitchen tools and equipment. He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, as if warning him to run.

"Oy mate, uh, Drago was it?"

The man jolted after a moment, as if startled out of his thoughts, before turning towards the two. Jim almost screamed. He wasn't a hideous alien or anything, but he had an awful face, and the snarl seemed permanent. He was badly scarred, and Jim didn't believe for a second that he got all those from kitchen duty. What chilled him the most, though, was how his other arm came off... Or, more to the point, his prosthetic arm did. And immediately, Billy Bones' final warning came to Jim's mind.

"Ah.. Mr. Aster, sir. To what do I owe this visit?"

Aster gestured to Jim, raising a brow and wondering why the kid got rigid all of the sudden. "I'd like to introduce you to Jim Hawkins," he said. "He's a temporary cabin boy for this voyage. Make sure to keep him out of trouble, ya hear?"

"It shall be as you said, sir." Drago nodded, looking towards Jim, raising a brow as if to scrutinize him. "Just got one rule, boy; first word, my last. And I don't like repeating myself, that clear?"

Jim frowned, definitely not liking the vibes this man gave off. He was definitely familiar to him, and there was a menacing aura about him that gave him a sense of déjà vu, too. Although he couldn't pinpoint from where. Aster assured him that the man wouldn't hurt him as he might with the rest of the crew, as Jim was still a civilian sailor of the voyage. The man left the two, much to Jim's displeasure.

Drago got back to whatever he was cooking, and Jim stood stiffly at the side. He looked around the galley, widening his eyes as his eyes fell on a large barrel of purps. Montressor wasn't that much of a planet, it was fairly humble and small. Hiccup's estate was the most remarkable in it. But it was still written down in most maps because it was the only planet supplying the fruit.

"Watcha gawking at, boy?" Drago snarled, and Jim stiffened, moving away from the approaching man. "listen here, lad, I ain't got time for ya right now. Go watch the launch instead of getting in the way of things, I'll make sure ya got work waiting afterwards."

The brunette didn't need to be told twice, as he rushed back up to the deck. Drago glared at him as he went. His men reported in to him earlier, that he was the boy who got the map from the Salamander. And he caught him eyeing those fruits, coming to a realization, possibly, of who he was. He couldn't work alongside him, as the brunette seemed to distrust him immediately. But he's come too far to let any neophyte get between him and the treasure. Still, he was a fine looking boy.

Drago would make sure he would keep an eye on him.

───────

"All clear cap'n!" Mildew called out from the the look out tower, "ready for cast off!"

Jack stood at the sterncastle deck of the ship, along with Aster, Hiccup, and a terran sailor by the name of Alvin. He watched the brunette, looking over the ship, watching the sailors as the moved about. He smiled in amusement, and Aster nudged him, throwing him a look. Jack rolled his eyes in response, before nudging back. 

"So? What do you think I'm paying you for?" Jack huffed, "Get on with it."

Aster chuckled, wanting to point out that it was Hiccup who was paying them all. But he nodded his head anyway, as per the agreement. "Ya got it, captain." he cleared his throat before bellowing out to the crew, "All hands to stations! Look sharp now, ya damn blokes. Loose all solar sails!"

The lizard from earlier as well as other rather strange aliens climbed up the shrouds as Jim found himself on the deck in the mess of things. He watched as they started working on the sails, loosening ropes and releasing the sails, in time with Aster's orders. Jack flew over to the deck, calling out to sailors to secure some braces before returning to his station at the sterncastle deck. Other more terran sailors helped in securing the ship, pulling and tugging on a long rope on the deck itself. Jim got hit once again, and he's starting to really consider watching where he was.

The brunette yelped as he started floating. 

"Mr. Boggs!" Jack called out, "engage artificial gravity."

The lizard creature responded with a salute and did as he was told, and in no time, Jim landed carefully back onto his feet. Hiccup though, from where he was with the captain, landed back rather ungracefully. Jack snickered, helping him up, and poked at him, disengaging a winged flap. Hiccup groused, rolling eyes at him as he set about fixing it. Jack cleared his throat as he addressed the terran sailor on the wheel.

"South by southwest, Mr. Treacherous, heading two-one-zero-zero."

The sailor grunted, "Aye, Captain."

"Full speed, Aster, if you please."

Aster nodded, talking directly to a cone, leading down to the main engine room. "Take her away!"

"Might wanna hang in there, Sir Hiccup." Jack mused teasingly, as Hiccup just snorted in response. The captain chuckled, shaking his head, voluntarily taking the brunette's arm. He raised his brow at that when suddenly, the ship blasted full speed ahead, and Hiccup yelped, losing balance as expected and only kept in place thanks to Jack. The captain flew, winking at him, "You're welcome." he said, before going off to check on the rest of the ship.

Hiccup can't help but blush, watching the white haired man in his element. Then, he gets a good look at the creatures and forgets about the handsome captain momentarily.

"An Orcus galacticus?! Wow, gotta get a sketch of this!" The explorer took a parchment journal and charcoal pen, about to head up to higher ground. Aster frowned, and called out a warning not to get too close. Before Hiccup could ask what he meant, the creature blew on his roof hole, and the explorer was dumped in dirty sludged. "Ack... The gods hate me, this is gonna take weeks to wash out..." He groused.

Jack, seeing the spectacle from a distance, couldn't help a giggle. Till he remembered he was at the presence of his crew. He shook it off, but did summon a cleansing wind towards the explorer to help him with the mess before continuing his supervision task.

Meanwhile, Jim was enjoying the view of space, where he hang about at the shrouds. Releasing a breath, in awe at the sight of the different creatures he's only ever seen in his school books. In the middle of his flying around, checking if everything is in order, Jack caught sight of the boy. He blinked, slightly caught of guard. He sighed, shaking his head.

_If you want something done right... _Jack interrupted the thought process as he flew over, "Good day, Sir Hawkins." Jack greeted, "Enjoying the view?"

"Captain? Wah!" Jim yelped, as he fell off. The captain was quick to intercept him and pulled him back into the ship, "Er... Thanks for the save."

Jack smirked, placing him back to his own feet. "Well, you know what they say," he snapped his fingers, and breeze came in, a breeze that wasn't there before, and brought forth a mop and bucket. "actions speak louder than words."

Jim pouted, knowing where this was going. 

───────

Next thing the brunette knew, he was swabbing the deck with a mop and bucket of water. He groused and scowled, wondering how this 'character building' was any different from his chores back home. Plus, he didn't see anyone else doing it. After the launch, most of the other sailors either played cards or talked among each other. He glared at them, wondering what they were even talking about that gave them the freedom to do so while he was the only one working. 

Unfortunately, Jim's famous glare didn't go unnoticed. 

"What are you looking at, weirdo?" One of the aliens, Jim thinks he heard him being called as Chet, scowled at him. "you tryin' to listen in?"

The other sailor, Earl, huffed at him. "Rude to eavesdrop, ya know."

"Just wondering," Jim rolled his eyes, "why I'm working, and you're talking. Can't be that important." he huffed. From the conversation in the state room, Jack implied that none of these sailors knew about the reason for this voyage.

Suddenly, the brunette heard a hissing sound overhead, and when he looked up, he balked as he sees a hideous spideresque alien crawling his way towards him, "Cabin boys should learn to mind their own business...."

"Why?" Jim shot back, trying not to show how unnerved he really was about having this guy in front of him. "You got something to hide, bright eyes?"

It wasn't even that much of an insult, mostly a statement of fact. But somehow, the guy found it offensive and suddenly grabbed the front of Jim's shirt. The brunette yelped, kicking at his legs as he tried to get himself released.

"Maybe your ears don't work so well."

Jim scrunched up his nose as the alien practically breathed at his face, "Yeah. Ahem." he huffed, holding his breathe because the guy was still directly at his face, "Too bad my nose works just fine."

"Why," The spideresque alien's scowl deepened, "you impudent little—"

Jim cried out as he was thrown and held up against the mast. He renewed his struggles, kicking more wildly than he had earlier. It didn't help when the rest of the alien sailors egged his assailant on, even going so far as to cheer on killing him. Now the brunette's wondering how the screening process went when hiring sailors. Hiccup paid big money for this, definitely enough for more decent fellows. 

"Go ahead, Scroop! Slice him! Dice him!"

Scroop inched his free claw towards Jim's face. "Any last words, cabin boy?" he drawled.

The brunette winced, trying to move his face away from it as much as he can, but the claw only got closer, the tip cutting his chin slightly before it was pulled away 

"Mr. Scroop," A voice started, and the captured brunette stilled in his struggles for a moment as he felt a chill run down his spine, "I'm gonna have to ask you to drop the little puppy."

Jim turned his head, trying to catch a glimpse of the newcomer when his heart caught in his throat. His blue eyes widened as he continued to stare at the man. It was a handsome man, with warm, auburn hair. He was older than him. More to the point, he was much older now. But Jim would recognize him anywhere.

_Dimitri?!_

"What are you gonna do if I don't, dimwit?" Scroop glared at him, "you've got nothing on me."

Dimitri smirked as he shrugged, "Hm, fine, you're right, carry on then." he started to walk away, before stopping once more. "Oh, almost forgot to mention. Uh, what was it again..." he paused, pretending to think.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?!"

Dimitri mocked gasped, and said, "Oh that's right," he sang, "The bunny man's coming." He grinned at Scroop before turning to Aster, "I'm sorry, sir. Tried to stop him."

"Shouldn't be anything to stop at all, lad." Aster rolled his eyes, before glaring at the sailors.

Scroop scowled, finally releasing Jim and getting in line with the rest of the offending crew, sparing a final glance at the two cabin boys one last time before he faced the music. He didn't miss how their own cabin boy helped out the new one, and the concern in his features.

_Drago's gonna need to hear about this..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Imagery for Aster**
> 
>   
  

> 
> Opinions with Jack and Aster's relationship? What do you think is its nature? Lemme know in the comments.
> 
> Just for reference purposes:
> 
>   
  



	5. "I'm Still here..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A friendship is rekindled

"Ya know the rules, men." Aster scowled deeply, eyeing down each of the sailors, even those taller and larger than him. "At least, I bloody hope ya do. You were hired among other candidates, and we expect ya to behave according to Sir Hamish's expectations. That said, there'll be no brawling on this ship, especially involving young Hawkins. Is that understood?"

"Aye, aye, sir."

Aster nodded in approval, but noticed Scroop avoiding eye contact, which drew back his scowl. "Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage." he stopped directly at the spideresque alien, and got on to his face. "Am l clear, Mr. Scroop?" He groused, "or shall I have Mr. Bludvist handle you?

"No, sir." Scroop managed out, "it's... Transparent."

Aster took it, nodding firmly and turned away from the sailors, missing the murderous glare Scroop sent his way. The rest of the sailors left the scene, and towards the galley. Nobody remained on the deck after that awkward scene.

Except for the two cabin boys.

"You sure you're okay, Jim?" Dimitri asked one more time, "I've been on the receiving end of Scroop's backlashes and he really doesn't pull punches."

Jim held his shoulder, rubbing at it. He had landed on it so it was a bit sore. But he almost didn't notice the pain, as he continued to stare at Dimitri, wondering if he was real or a dream. It was only when his name fell off his lips did he get his answer.

"You know my name... You called me a little puppy earlier, like he used to when we were kids..." The brunette muttered, mostly to himself than to the other, "you _are _Dimitri!"

Dimitri smirked, stepping back and spreading out his arms, as if to let Jim have a good look. "The one and only." He grinned. He yelped, caught by surprise as Jim went in for an embrace. Normally, he'd turn rigid and stiff with the invasion of personal space. But now, he accepted the contact.

"Ah!" Jim realized what he's done, and immediately pulled back, flustered. "Sorry about that! It's just— Odin's beard, you're alive! And.... And... Taller!" That wasn't what he meant to add, but it had been the first that came out. "I still can't believe it!"

Dimitri snorted, but a smirk remained on his lips, "Thanks for the vote of confidence," he quipped, "and excuse you, I've always been taller than you."

Before Jim could respond, Randall returned briefly, calling out to Dimitri, mentioning something about how Drago was calling for a huddle. Dimitri groaned, waving the lizard away with the promise he'd be there in a minute.

"Wait," Jim blinked, frowning. "you work for Drago?"

Dimitri sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Not because I want to, I can tell you that. Still, kept me better fed than that orphanage at least." He said, "mostly just an errand boy to them than anything else."

Jim sighed, relieved. "Good, so you weren't there when they burnt down the inn." He said.

"When they what?!"

Once again, Dimitri's name was being called from the galley. The older and taller brunette huffed, irritated. He sighed.

"Sorry, I really don't want to cut this reunion short, and really rather help with the deck than sit through a boring huddle, but cabin boy duty calls." Dimitri was about to leave, before realizing something. "wait, I can't stay to help, but someone can." he grinned, before putting two fingers into his mouth.

For some reasons, Jim felt flustered by the gesture. Then, Dimitri made a shrill whistle sound, and something came out from the galley, a few sailor yelps heard as well.

"Meet Pooka!"

The younger brunette blinked at the creature. A tiny, gray, globby thing was presented in front of him, its tongue sticking out. It rubbed against Jim affectionately.

"Whoa—!" Jim yelped, chuckling. "Hah, what is that thing?"

The creature echoed him, "_What is that thing_?" Then separated into tiny particles of itself until it was a tiny clone of Jim.

"She's a Morph." Dimitri shrugged, "Rescued the little shape-shifter in Proteus one."

"Didn't you used to hate pets?" Jim asked, raising a brow.

Pooka settled herself on his shoulder, comfortable.

"Correction, dogs." Dimitri said shortly, with a raised finger. "Pooka's not one, and hey, took a shine on me so why not? And wow, surprised you still remember."

Jim flushed, wondering himself why he did remember the littlest things of the guy. That trauma must've hit him really hard, for sure. Somehow, that being the reason was hard to believe though. But he didn't know what else to make of it, so he settled for that. Then, suddenly, he frowned.

"So why do you keep calling me a puppy?"

Dimitri snickered, "Cause you are," he said. "And puppies are small, and adorable. So I don't mind as much."

"I'm not adorable."

"Oh, so you disagree with that, but not the small part?"

"I'm not a puppy!"

"See? Adorable."

Another call of Dimitri's name, this an angry one from Drago. On the other end of the ship, Jim's name was also called by Hiccup. And Jim's thinking '_So much for no fights on the first day_'. Both cabin boys sighed. They smiled at each other briefly one last time.

"Let's pick this up later again, yeah?"

"Sure," Jim grinned, picking up the bucket and mop. "Oh, your... Glob... Pet thing."

"My morph," Dimitri supplied, "and keep her for now, got a feeling she's just gonna be cowering because of Drago if she went with me."

Jim frowned, "Will you be okay?" 

"Hey, made it this far " Dimitri winked, "I'll live."

───────

The cabin boy sighed as he seated himself in between Eret and Tuffnut. Dimitri wished he was as confident as he had wanted Jim to believe. He never liked these meetings. He never liked being part of Drago's crew, period. Especially considering that the man had abducted him years ago, with the intention of him being, not just a cabin boy, but his personal fuck toy.

Of course, Dimitri fought back, even knowing the odds were against him. Drago got as far as stripping him stark naked, and even went through an entire foreplay. But while his struggles would falter, they would resume a moment after. Finally, Drago gave up entirely. Apparently, the man wanted a toy who cried and pleaded helplessly for him to stop. Dimitri did cry, but his eyes remained cold and angry. It was a turn off for the man. 

Drago still kept Dimitri, but strictly as a cabin boy. The boy tried escaping a few times, but he always gets caught in the last minute. Just like at the night they told him they were going to raid some place for a map. But then he heard it was a map to Treasure Planet, so Dimitri decided to hold off his escape. If he knew that it had been the Benbow Inn that got raided, though, he would've done something to stop it. Although, now it did make sense why Drago didn't want him to come.

The man remembered Dimitri had lived there.

"So," Drago started, "we're all here, then." His eyes fall on the cabin boy, who stiffened instinctively. But the man simply nodded, before turning to glare at the other sailors, the ones caught in the brawl earlier. "Good men."

Dimitri felt a bit relieved, that he wasn't the one being singled out in the meeting.

"Now, if you allow me to start with a question, gentlemen, are you all..." Drago paused, before growling and slamming his fist down on a table. "damned, blasted imbeciles?! After all Dimitri's hustling in getting us hired as an upstanding crew you want to blow the whole mutiny before its time?!"

Scroop huffed, scowling back. The only one brave, or crazy, enough to talk back to Drago, "The boy was sniffing about." he countered 

"You just stick to the plan, you bug-brained fool." Drago groused, giving him one final glare before turning away and addressing the whole group once more. "As for the boy, Dimitri will be in charge of keeping him distracted to be minding about our business."

Dimitri blinked, "What? Me?" He gawked.

"Yes, you." Drago groused, aware of who this boy was in Dimitri's past. "Doubtful he would trust anyone else but you. You can lead him astray."

Dimitri frowned, unsure how he felt being used against Jim. "But I—"

"I'm sorry, did I imply you had a choice?" Drago immediately cut off, "Do you want me to be the one _taking care _of the lad? Seems like he'd be a better crier than you." 

Dimitri felt chilled to the bone right there, and he grumbled. Determined to never allow the man to do Jim rotten like he had to him.

"... I'll do it."

"Good lad," Drago nodded with a cruel smirk, "and if you want your share of the treasure, you best remember where your loyalty lies."

Dimitri frowned.

───────

"Hiccup, I'm fine!" Jim groaned as the man continued to check him over. Pooka settled on his discarded jacket, watching curiously. "this is not the type of exploration you should be doing."

The man sighed, as he finally gestured for the teenager to pull down his shirt. "All right, you seem fine, that's a relief." Hiccup nodded.

"Yeah, what he's been saying for the past hour," Jack quipped as he leaned against the door. "But no more messing with any hot-headed sailor here on out, we clear on that?"

Jim groused, "I didn't do anything." He stressed, "But they did! They burned my home to the ground!"

"What!" Hiccup gawked, "what does that—"

"The one-armed sailor that Salamander warned me about," Jim continued earnestly, "I think it's Drago. It's gotta be! He had the purps from back home in his galley!"

Jack cuts in, "That galley," he interjects, "isn't owned by anyone. It's simply being used by the one in charge of the meals. And purps are distributed from Montressor and exported just about anywhere. The supplies were all bought from the market." The captain refuted. "And before you call me out on simply disregarding your sentiments, well, I'd be willing to hear more of this claim once evidences are presented, or anything to back you up."

"But I—"

Jack interrupts one more time, but in a gentler voice this time. "I get where you're coming from. I'd like to find the bastards, too, if my place got ransacked." He walked over and levelled with Jim. "But fact of the matter is, there's not enough proof for you to make that claim. That's not permission either, though, for you to cause conflict amongst the crew by trying to prove their guilt."

"So," Jim started, frowning. "what should I do?"

Jack stood back, folding his hands behind his back. "You follow orders," he said. "The truth will come to light in due time. Learned that based on experience. You just have to trust it will."

"I—" Jim paused, but finally relented. He was at least thankful that the captain hadn't disregarded him completely, "aye, Captain."

Jack nodded, "Very good." He said. "You can go now."

Hiccup gaped as the teenager left the room with the Morph, somehow astonished at how Jack thoroughly handled Jim logically, diplomatically, respectfully and with consideration. The captain noticed his expression, and rolled his eyes, smirking.

"Hey, didn't get my position with charms alone." Jack quipped, "I'll have you know, I do volunteer hours at orphanages and foster homes when I'm not on duty. So, I've got a way with kids. And you'd be surprise how useful it is, some adults aren't too far from being childish."

Hiccup continued staring before he managed a smile, "Well, I'll definitely remember that." He said. "Thank you, captain. For talking some sense into him."

"Hey," The captain walked over, crossing his arms. "Just Jack is fine. I don't like titles, remember?"

Hiccup raised a brow, "But you said—"

"In front of the crew I'm unfamiliar with, do so. No one's around now." Jack interjected, "Too much hassle keeping up pretenses."

Hiccup smirked, amused with the young captain. "If you insist," he mused. "But really, thank you. I really don't need him getting into any more trouble and end up getting himself hurt."

"Much obliged," Jack quipped, "you care for that lad a lot, don't you?"

Hiccup shrugged, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess," he said. "Lost my parents in a young age, left with a large fortune, and a great deal of expectations. His family always made me feel welcome, and Jim's practically like a brother."

"Oh," Jack frowned, sympathizing. "Sorry, Hic..."

Hiccup shook his head, smiling at him, "Hey, it's been years." he assured, "And I'm doing just fine, got Toothless, uh, my dragon. And kept busy with our explorations. Big manor gets pretty lonely at times, though."

"Sounds like you just need someone to fill in the space."

Hiccup smirked, looking at Jack, a hand to his cheek, "You offering, captain?" He teased.

"Wha— I just meant, the Hawkins..." Jack stammered, earning an amused chuckle from the explorer. The captain scowled, flustered. "Think it's time I return to my post. Aster's probably getting antsy, waiting for me. Have a good rest, Hiccup."

Hiccup continued chuckling, amused, seeing a different side to Jack. But then he frowned, laying back onto his bed. "Thor, what am I doing..." He groused, "he's taken, damn it." He sighed, shaking his head as he turned to his side.

───────

Jim sighed as he pulled his jacket back on. He picked up the mop and bucket and made his way back down to the deck. He blinked as he sees Dimitri, whistling and in the middle of mopping the deck.

"Well, fun day so far, huh?" Dimitri mused with a grin, and Pooka left Jim to go to him, rubbing against his cheek. He petted her absently, "Making new friends like Mr. Spider psycho."

Pooka giggled, morphing into Scroop, and chanting mockingly, "_Spider psycho, spider psycho._"

"Heh," Jim chuckled, approaching the two. "A little uglier."

Pooka-Scroop covered her face, before attempting the feat. "_Mwah-ha-ha-ha_!"

Jim and Dimitri bursted out laughing, the taller man throwing his arm around the shorter brunette as if trying to keep himself together. When they finally composed themselves, they realized their closed proximity. Jim flushed, pulling away and Dimitri lets go of him, coughing into his hand in a show of nonchalance.

"That," The tall brunette cleared his throat, "Nice, Pooka. Pretty close."

Jim smiled, and placed the bucket down as he set to work as well. "So," he started, "how'd that meeting go?"

"What? Oh, that," Dimitri tensed, but tried to shrug it off casually, "well, the big man just gave those sailors that messed with you a good tellin' off, wanting to make a spectacle of it. Speaking of which, though, you gotta learn to pick your fights. Don't bite more than you can chew, little puppy."

Jim rolled his eyes, but said nothing against the nickname. He doubted Dimitri was stopping anytime soon. Plus, he wanted answers. "All this time, you were alive," he started, pausing his work. "why haven't you decided to escape, and come back?"

"You think I didn't try?" Dimitri scowled, dumping the mop on his bucket and leaning on the mast. "After what that man tried to do to me, I wanted nothing more but to—"

Alarms went off Jim's head, and he abandoned his mop as well. "What?" He asked earnestly, "what did he do?"

"I—" Dimitri caught himself, and he frowned deeply. Pooka seemed to whimper, rubbing herself against her master. The man looked at Jim, innocence shining through his blue eyes even though he had a feeling he's been through a lot as well. Dimitri wasn't going to let anything ruin that, not even himself. "It's nothing. Moot point, and all, being at the past. Just... promise me you'll stay away from him. Don't get yourself involved; you're under his charge, but he assigned me as proxy so it's all good."

Jim frowned, disliking how he dropped the subject, but relented for now. He'd let Dimitri tell him when he was ready. "So, I'm reporting to you, then?"

"Sounds stuffy, no." Dimitri shook his head, "And I have a feeling you hate authority. So, just think of it more as a partnership. You'll be working with me, not for me."

Jim beamed at that, "Definitely like the sound of that better."

"All right, let's get to it then," Dimitri grinned, before it turned to a mischievous smirk. He took his mop, flung it abrupt from the bucket and accidentally on purpose splattered Jim with water. "Whoa, you missed a spot."

Jim scowled playfully, before taking his own mop and doing the same thing to him. The two laughed, messing around a bit instead of getting actual work done. It took Aster coming down on them, and give them a fair jab to the head for them to resume the actual task. They were able to finish just in time before supper was ready, sharing a table with the sailors; Eret, Dagur, and twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

Jim scowled whenever the female twin tried flirting with Dimitri, because he sees that they didn't match at all. His friend seemed to think the same, as he attempted to redirect her attention to Eret. When Dimitri turned his attention back to his childhood friend, he managed to catch his expression. 

"Aw, jealous, little puppy?"

Jim snorted, ignoring his blush as he flung a spoonful of porridge towards him. "You wish... Dimwit." he smirked at his friend's offended expression as the rest of the sailors had a laugh at his expense.

───────

The following day, Jim and Dimitri were lowered to the bottom of the ship to clean up some barnacles that formed overnight. Aster was stationed to supervise, not trusting the two to avoid rough housing and end up falling off the scaffolds. Still, he liked the lads way better than the rest of the crew, so the man didn't think it was all that bad.

"Put some elbow into it, ya lads!" Aster called out from above the ship, "Anklebiter, more on your right!" He hollered as his ears twitched over to that direction.

Jim grunted as he angled his elbows to get the damn things off, but he forgot about balance for a moment and almost fell off. Luckily, Dimitri saw his struggle and reached over a bit, adjusting his body while he supported Jim, till the boy was able to regain his balance himself. The younger brunette smiled at him in thanks before resuming his task. A fond smile played on Dimitri's lips as he watched the boy, before it fell to a frown at a strange feeling he suddenly felt.

The man shook it off, and went back to work himself.

Weeks turned into months, and as Dimitri expected, and mentioned, he and Jim did get paired up a lot with their tasks assignment. He can't help but notice that the years have been kind to Jim, in terms of physical development, at least. Jim had already shared that it's been rough ever since he watched Dimitri's abduction, and failed to save him. Dimitri can't help but feel guilty even though he had no control over it and the two had a mutual exchange of apologies.

Still, despite all this, Dimitri sees how Jim seemed to grow into a fine, healthy young man. Even the shadow that seemed like a permanent eye mask gave him a certain look, not at all marring his handsome features.

Dimitri caught himself, perplex at the notion. _Handsome? I mean, sure, I guess he is. But that's not something you normally think about with your friend... _He frowned, wondering if it was right to call Jim that.

While he wasn't actively thinking or even considered that he was doing this as per Drago's orders, it didn't change the fact that it seemed that way. Especially when Dimitri made Jim promise to keep away from Drago. Dimitri definitely didn't like the guy either, but he was smart enough to know when he was out-matched. Still, that also didn't change the fact that, in some way, he was betraying Jim's trust by not telling him the truth of Drago's schemes.

Dimitri groaned, dropping his hands which carried a knife and potato, _Some friend I am..._

"Hey," Jim called out, pausing his own work to frown at his friend, "you tired already?" He asked playfully, in an attempt to mask his real concern.

Dimitri shrugged, "Just, you know, taking a short breather."

"Poor gramps, need a massage?"

"Hey, watch it," Dimitri scowled, "I'm not that much older than you."

"If you say so, dimwit." Jim snickered, going back to his task.

Dimitri narrowed his eyes, "You gonna keep calling me that?"

"You gonna keep calling me a puppy?" Jim responded rhetorically.

Dimitri smiled in amusement, rolling his eyes. He felt content on the moment, but he wondered how long it will last. He was certain, after all, that once Drago's true colors comes to light, and Jim finds out his role in his scheme his friend would end up hating him. Dimitri could tell him the truth, he believed in Jack and Aster, that they'd be able to bring them to justice. Except being far from civilization, they were sorely outnumbered. And even if they somehow managed, Dimitri also believed in Drago and his brute strength.

The cabin boy was at a stalemate. He huffed, looking towards the stars outside, internalizing his bleak predicament, a predicament he's been in ever since he was taken away from Jim, and what he knew as his home. 

_I am a question_ _to the world, n__ot an answer_ _to be heard... _

Dimitri shook his head, sparing a wistful side-glance towards Jim who was busy at work, wishing for nothing more than to tell him what he knew. He groaned, wishing he could go back to simpler times, when he was a young orphan playing with his childhood friend. 

_Or a moment,_ _that's held in your arms..._

"Dimitri," Jim called out in concern, "you sure you're doing fine? You should lay at a hammock or something. I can finish up here."

Dimitri snapped out of his daze, scowling at Jim unintentionally. He was in a foul mood, "Not exactly your call, pup. And I'm just feeling a bit sluggish. Besides," he made a pointed look towards the countless supply of potatoes, "don't think you can handle this much work load on your own."

"Hey, you could be surprised." Jim huffed indignantly, put off by the scowl previously thrown his way. "I'm no stranger to manual labor."

Dimitri snorted, smirking a bit, as he recalled the simple chores that Sarah or Silver used to have them do, "Yeah, but at least the only thing you get for slacking off is a telling off from your folks. In the real world, you screw up, you could get a beating." He told him, frowning at his earlier days, being forced into a ridiculous load of labor, especially for a child. "Trust me, it's more than you'd be able to handle."

The young teenager glared at Dimitri's condescending judgment and the cabin boy immediately regretted his words. It wasn't like Jim didn't know where Dimitri was coming from, it couldn't have been easy, being a victim of abduction and all the ramifications that came with it. But he had thought Dimitri would know him better, wouldn't look down at him as much. But he sounded just like every other person who ever looked down on him.

_And what do you think you'd ever say? I won't listen anyway... _

Jim wasn't going to give into his opinion, even if Dimitri was his friend.

_You don't know me, _ _a__nd I'll never be what you want me to be... _

"Shut it," Jim grumbled, leaning back on a purp barrel and resumed his peeling. "Thought you'd be better, but guess you're just like everyone else." He groused, trying to ebb the hurt he felt by his friend's words.

Dimitri frowned, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I... Sorry, Jim. I... phrased all that wrong." he said lamely, "I didn't mean to—"

"Whatever, dimwit," Jim huffed, "get back to work."

Dimitri's shoulder sagged, but he did as he was told. An oppressive silence passed over them for the next hour, and Jim wished he had a better handle on his angst. But he really was upset by Dimitri's remark. He really thought his friend would see that there was more to him, despite their years apart. But maybe that was part of the problem. When Dimitri was taken, he had been a mere five year old. A little kid, and now, the older brunette was close to being a man. Maybe he still saw Jim as a child. After all, he still kept up that silly nickname.

It was silly for Jim, as well, to hope that Dimitri would understand him.

_And what do you think you'd understand? I'm a boy? No, __I'm a man._

For the rest of the day, Jim gave Dimitri the cold shoulder. Pooka tried to alleviate the situation, but Jim had ignored her attempts. Most of the time, by trying to do their tasks solo, wanting to prove to Dimitri he wasn't a child anymore... Trying to show him he wasn't, unconsciously desiring for the man to look at him differently and not simply write him off as a kid seeking attention and approval.

_You can't take me, and throw me away..._

The other boy didn't know how to deal with it, he just knew that he had to appease Jim's mood. By how he taunted Scroop a few months back, Dimitri figured Jim made rash decisions when he was in a mood. But how does he go about helping another person with their bleak mood when he barely had a good handle on it for himself? 

_And how can you learn what's never shown. Yeah, __you stand here on your own._ _They don't know me 'cause I'm not here... _

It definitely didn't help that Jim kept ignoring him half the time, whenever Dimitri attempted to break his cold ice. But the man was determined to get back on Jim's good side, not because it was his assignment from Drago either.

_And I want a moment to be real, want to touch things I don't feel, want to hold on and feel I belong. And how can the world want me to change? They're the ones that stay the same They don't know me... But I'm still here... _

He cared a lot for the boy, and he didn't want Jim upset with him any longer than he already was. Dimitri even went as far as asking Hiccup for help. It had been awkward, mostly because the explorer asked him questions and worried over his trauma from being abducted as a child. Dimitri thought it was nice, in a way, for him to be concerned about him whether or not they knew each other long.

"Jim was a mess when he lost you years ago. I definitely don't want him relapsing over your miscommunication," Hiccup told him, "and I'm no expert, but I can already see that your reunion is doing him good. Actually, maybe both of you good. So tell you what, I'll talk to Jack and get you permission to take Jim sailing. Just be sure not to wonder off too far."

Dimitri nodded, grinning at the man gratefully.

───────

"Where the hell are you taking me, dimwit?"

"Can't tell, it's a surprise." Dimitri muttered, holding Jim's hands and guiding the blindfolded boy carefully down the cargo hold, where the emergency longboats are stowed. "No, Pooka, not this time. Stay, go to Mr. Hamish." There were sounds of the Morph's whimpers until it faded, indicating Pooka's departure. "All right, here we are."

Jim blinked at the sudden return of his sight, and raised a brow. The latch was open, which it should be not. And a long boat hovered precariously above it. He turned to Dimitri in question, "What? Is the assignment to close the hatch?" he snorted, "pretty sure that's something one man can handle." 

"No, you dork." Dimitri snickered, nudging him lightly. Jim felt a rush of sudden affection, it almost made him forget about the reason he had been upset for so long. "I'm taking you sailing. Well, technically, I'm gonna teach you how, and you'll take me for a ride."

Jim widened his eyes at the implication, turning back towards the long boat as what Dimitri was suggesting started to dawn at him. "But..." he frowned, "the captain..."

"Mr. Hamish handled that, so we're off duty for the next hour." Dimitri answered quickly, taking Jim's arm and led him towards the ramps. "Come on, help me untie this."

Jim beamed and got to work.

_And you see the things they never see. All you wanted, I could be. Now you know me; and I'm not afraid... _

No words needed to be spoken; there was a mutual agreement that things were all right with them right now. "So," The teenager started as the loosed the final knot, "you really think that I can pull this off?"

"Jim, please," Dimitri scoffed, climbing onto the boat. "you built a solar surfer when you were eight, I think this is gonna be a breeze for you."

Jim widened his eyes, blushing a bit at the man's belief in him. "You... you know about that?"

"Hey, I told you I tried escaping a few times. Think I saw a little puppy navigating a board once, and a woman frantically chasing after it." Dimitri winked, causing Jim's blush to darken, "Mr. Hamish just about confirmed it, though. Man's really proud of you, pup. I think they all are, just gotta take a moment to look."

Jim smiled softly at Dimitri.

_And I want to tell you who I am. Can you help me be a man? They can't break me; as long as know who I am... _

The brunette couldn't help letting out a small giggle, a warm feeling bubbling up his chest. Dimitri felt something, as well, hearing that giggle. Jim didn't notice, though, busy staring up at his friend in wonder. At this moment, right now, he knew every belittlement thrown towards him were invalid. Because if there were people that believed in him, as Dimitri had said, then there's no way their words can be true.

_They can't tell me who to be... 'Cause I'm not what they see. Yeah. The world is still sleeping while I keep on dreaming for me... And the words are just whispers and lies that I'll never believe..._

"Whoa!" Dimitri yelped as the boat started lowering, and Jim snapped out of his musings. "guess it wasn't locked in well. Better jump in quick, Jim."

The brunette did as he was told, jumping onto the long boat just as it dropped away from the ship entirely. Dimitri beamed at him with pride, ruffling his hair a bit. He settled down into the boat, and Jim followed suit, smiling fondly at his friend. The older man started showing Jim the controls, explaining how to navigate the boat properly, and when to activate the accelerator. But the more Jim listened, the more his excitement grew, now knowing that Dimitri did believe in him after all.

_And I want a moment to be real, want to touch things I don't feel, want to hold on and feel belong._

"What, Jim, what're you..." Dimitri blinked as Jim started the ignition, but bypassing some safety checks. "Okay, pup, maybe take it easy on your first ru— Whoa!" He yelped as the boat charged forward.

Jim cheered excitedly as they approached a nearby shooting frosstar. It was one of those rare balls of gas, where the flames weren't actually made of burning fire, but of cool, misty, ice. He grinned mischievously, something Dimitri was familiar of, all too well. Before he can say anything, Jim navigated the boat right inside the star, surfing the boat through it. Dimitri's heart leapt, in panic at first as the boat turned a three-sixty, and he was losing his hold to remain seated. But Jim grabbed on to his arm, and pulled him back, laughing at what might be a funny expression on Dimitri's face. Finally, the cabin boy started to relax.

And when they exited the star, Dimitri felt at peace, for once in a long time, allowing himself to believe for just a moment, that with Jim by his side and away from Drago and his blasted crew, all was right in the world. 

_How can you say I never change? They're the ones that stay the same~_

Dimitri let out a breath of carefree bliss, before thinking, _I love him... _And just like that, carefree bliss gone. And Jim, remaining totally oblivious, still riding the high of the moment.

_I'm the one now, 'cause I'm still here.... I'm the one cause I'm still here, I'm still here, I'm still here...._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to explore the possibility, what if Jim had gone to Doppler or the captain about his suspicions over Silver? And this happened.
> 
> Also, more relationship exploration for Jim and 'Dr. Doppler'. For someone who was a close family friend, Doppler could've watched out for Jim a bit more than he had. I mean, he was an unofficial, unspoken, chaperon after all.
> 
> Another also, I'm making this universe similar to that of Kubo's, creator of Yuri!!! On Ice. In the sense that, all relationships are accepted, common place, and what not. So no homophobia or worries about that discrimination exists here. I mean, come on, Aliens exist. And Sarah and Silver are married here.


	6. "Fasten your lifelines!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A solar light in the darkness

After an hour of sailing, Dimitri finally convinced Jim to steer the longboat back to the ship. They started to pull on the ropes to reel in the boat back into the ship. The younger brunette was still buzzing with excitement, while the other was still occupied with his new self-discovery.

_Okay, so I might like him. Big deal, just a crush. Or a fluke, _Dimitri tried telling himself, _Being reunited just made me happier than I ever have been in years. Totally displacing attraction with happiness, for sure. Besides, I can't fall in love with him. He's my friend, maybe even my best friend, despite our years apart. Can't ruin it now with this damn love business... Ugh, not that I'm gonna avoid that either, unless I tell him the truth about Drago and his master plan... Damn it, I'm screwed either way._

Because of his inner musings, the boat ended up tipping more to the other side and it became unbalanced. Jim grinned cockily, and Dimitri blinked, finding the younger brunette suddenly below him.

"Oh, ho ho! You having a little trouble there, dimwit?"

Dimitri snorted, rolling his eyes as he managed a smirk. He pulled hard on his own rope, regaining the balance. "Oh, get away from me, you excitable pup." he laughed, and started tying a knot to secure the boat back in place. "Gotta say, though, Jimmy, if you can maneuver a skiff like that, people must be bowing down when you walk on the humble Montressor streets." He remarked, grunting as he took a seat.

"I don't know." Jim chuckled lightly, too much in a good mood to complain about another nickname. He sat beside his friend after securing a knot. "They weren't exactly singing my praises when I left home."

Dimitri snorted, taking a face towel from his pocket and wiped away frosstar residue. "Yeah, well, guess they don't know better."

"Maybe so," Jim said, mostly to humor his friend than anything else. He was flattered, though, with his appraisal. "But I'm gonna change all that."

Dimitri smirked, "Are you now? How so?"

"Uh, I got some plans." Jim admitted, smugly. He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back against the boat, "Gonna make people see me a little different."

Dimitri thought back to all those times he planned his escape, some even more careful and elaborate yet he still fell short in the end. He felt the need to give Jim a bit of a warning, "That's all well and good, Jim." he started, "But I gotta tell you, sometimes, things don't go the way you want it to."

"This time, it will." Jim said confidently, "I feel it."

Dimitri sighed, "Hmm, well, wish I could say, just feeling something going right was enough." he muttered, shaking his head. "I think I've had that feeling the first few times I tried escaping Drago, before finally being resigned to the fact that future attempts would have the same ending; getting recaptured."

"Oh, uh," Jim started, frowning as he shifted away from his previous comfortable posture, and sat up, leaning closer to his friend. "You... willing to share? I mean, I'm still wondering what you were about to say, that one time before..."

Dimitri looked into Jim's shining, and bright blue eyes, even in this relative darkness. He wondered how'd the brunette take it. He wondered if he wanted him to take it. But Dimitri figured, maybe if Jim knew, it would give him an incentive to really avoid Drago. He no longer care if the man's plans came to light, but Dimitri still feared what he'd try to do, if ever the man managed to get Jim alone. He shuddered at the thought. Regardless whether he had feelings for his friend or not, he would never want the bright-eyed boy to be placed in such a situation.

And Dimitri imagined, if his feelings were confirmed, he'd be a thousand times more protective.

"Drago..." Dimitri started, trying to fight passed the lump in his throat. "See, he... He didn't just _want _a cabin boy."

Jim nodded, waiting for him to continue. Although he wondered why else a man would need an orphaned boy for aside from that position, he remained quiet and allowed Dimitri to tell him in his own pace. He didn't pressure him because, by the sound of it, whatever his childhood friend was going to tell him wasn't something easily admitted.

"Right, see, when you get older, certain... desires are awakened." Dimitri paused once more, and looked down on on his knees. He found it easier, that way. The illusion that he was alone, and not about to share something intimate with anyone else, all the more Jim. "And Drago, well, with me... He wanted and... He tried to... He tried to..." Tears started to fill his eyelids, to his surprise.

And Dimitri thought he was over the trauma of what happened to him as a child. 

"That filthy scoundrel..." Dimitri blinked, finally bringing himself to look at Jim, and gawked at the rage in his eyes, and both his fists tightly clenched. "That... no good... bastard! I'm gonna—!"

Dimitri cried out, reaching for his friend, and wrapping his arms around him as he realized that Jim was about to leave and, most possibly, go right to confront Drago. _So much for that incentive... _He fretted, pulling the younger brunette against him as he continued to struggle to be set free. "Easy, Jim! Remember what I said, don't bite more than you can—"

"Let go of me, you dimwit!" Jim growled, his struggles persisting. "That lowlife did you so rotten! There is no way I'm going to let him get away with—! I may not be able to prove that he burnt down my home, but you're proof enough for that offense. Let go, already!"

Dimitri groaned, only tightening his hold more. "No! No, Jim, don't. Just stop. It's not worth it, nothing... Nothing happened. I said he tried, didn't I? He didn't go all the way."

"He didn't?" Jim stopped struggling. He was still mad as hell, but he couldn't deny the relief he felt that nothing actually happened. At least, he hoped Dimitri wasn't lying about that. "why didn't he?"

Dimitri shrugged dismissively, relieved that Jim had stopped struggling. "Not his type, maybe?" He joked. It was a weak attempt for one, but he didn't know what else to say without going into a more detailed explanation. "He hasn't tried anything else the last couple years except for that one attempt. I'm clean, so to speak. So, you know, just... Let it go. I did."

"Did you really?" Jim raised a brow, skeptical. "I mean, you cried..."

Dimitri forestalled, "Relapses, it happens. But yeah, really. I'm mostly fine... I know it wasn't my fault, and as long as I keep repeating that in my head, it gets better."

"But... it's my fault." Jim frowned, his shoulders sagging. "if I had done more, run a little faster even, you wouldn't..."

Dimitri scowled, turning Jim around and grabbing his shoulders firmly. "Hell, no, Jim." he insisted. "If I don't get to blame myself for what happened, you don't. In fact, I have you to thank."

"Me? Why?"

"You welcomed me into your family, you made me feel I wasn't alone." Dimitri told him, "and the moment we met again, those months ago, when you hugged me... I would shy away from physical contact instantly. Over the years, I've avoid and smacked anyone who did so much as touched my hand. But that didn't happen with you. Jim," he said with a released breath, "you feel like home. And after all these years, that's all I wanted."

Jim blinked, staring at Dimitri, at a wonder with his words. Then, finally realizing how close he was, he feels blood rushing to his cheeks. But somehow, Jim can't pull his eyes away from staring at the taller brunette. As for Dimitri, he got an answer to whether or not he had feelings for his friend.

There was no mistake, after everything he just confessed to Jim; he loves him.

"Jim, I—"

The brunette held his breath, "Y-yes?" He squeaked, anticipating something he can't determine. But Jim had a feeling, he'd know the moment Dimitri finished his sentence.

"I—"

Suddenly, the ship bucked violently, and the boys were flung out of the longboat and landed onto the ledge of the ship. Dimitri groaned, but made sure Jim had been safe when they were thrown off. After steadying themselves, they made their way towards the deck. 

**───────**

Hiccup grunted, suddenly being thrown out of bed, with the gray glob in a frenzy panic in front of him. He raised a brow, wondering how such a little thing could fling him off the bed.

"Pooka? Pooka, wha—" The explorer trailed off as the thing dove under his pants and struggled to bring it to him. Hiccup sighed, figuring he wasn't getting back to sleep till he entertained the thing. "What, you want to go out or somethi—" He is interrupted once more when the ship balked violently, and he gets shoved unto the window. He groaned, rubbing at his face as he pulled back. Finally, he sees the problem though, "Oh, Thor Almighty..." Hiccup grabbed his pants and pulls them on before opening the door.

Pooka rushes out first to find Dimitri.

Hiccup gawked at the burning fire that seemed to be engulfing them. "Great Valhalla," he takes a spyglass from his pant pocket and looked through it, confirming his suspicions. "the star Kozmotis... It's gone supernova!"

Jack flew out of his own quarters and sounded the alarm, "Evasive action, Mr. Treacherous!" he barked out, an urgent but fairly calm tone to his command.

"Aye-aye, Captain!"

Aster pulled his coat on, and rushed out from Jack's quarters as well. He secured himself first before barking out a command, and everyone on deck were quick to follow. "All hands, fasten your lifelines!" He threw a lasso towards the captain as well, who caught it instinctively. "That means you too, Snowflake!"

"Got it, Aster!" Jack called back, saluting in thanks as he secured it around his waist. He looked up and gasped as he sees fire shot through the ship, "Anyone who has hands, secure those sails!"

Aster repeated the order, "Secure all sails! Reef 'em down, ya blokes!" He cried out, before motioning Eret towards a chair attached to a machine cannon. "Mr. Eret, take offensive position!"

Meanwhile, Dimitri and Jim climbed up to the sails, doing their part in bringing them down, Pooka hanging onto Jim's shoulder as she trembled in fear. Just when they finished, a stray fire blast narrowly missed Dimitri. He wasn't hit, but he did lose balance and fall off.

"Aah!"

"Dimitri!"

Jim reacted quickly, thanks to Pooka warning him. He grabbed for his friend's arm and heaved, using his free arm to support himself as he pulled Dimitri back on top the mast line.

"Whoa." Dimitri gasped, clenching his chest, wide-eyed as it occurred to him he could've died just then. "Saw my life past my eyes for a minute there. Thanks, Jim... You too, Pooka." He added at the offended cry from his pet.

Jim smiled, making sure Dimitri was fully up before letting go of his arm. Suddenly, the heat got more intense. And the two cabin boys balked, as a large ball of gas was making its way towards the ship. Even Eret gave up and retreated from his station at the approaching star. Some sailors below, on the deck, scrambled, trying to find some place to hide, even if it was a futile attempt.

"On second thought," Dimitri started, swallowing thickly, "if we even live through this, remind me to thank you then."

Jim trembled, reaching for Dimitri's hand and squeezing it tight as fear clenched his heart. Pooka whimpered, diving into Dimitri's shirt. The other boy squeezed back, and they both placed their other arm in front of them instinctively, as if it was enough to ward off the approaching star.

Amazingly, though, the star did pull back. But it didn't mean they were safe, just yet. Jim and Dimitri didn't waste time to start back down.

"Captain," Mildew cried out from his vantage point, in a frenzy panic, "the star!"

Hiccup rushed toward's Jack's side at the Sterncastle deck, getting a better look at the situation. "It's devolving into a..." The explorer lets out a gasp, "... a black hole!

"We're being pulled in!" Alvin grunted, trying to push against the weight of the wheel till he was flung back totally. "Ack! Blast it all!"

Jack was quick to intercept, using whatever winds he can summon to push back against the force. "No, you don't, you—!" he huffed as his tried turning the wheel away, as well as the ship, from where imminent death awaited. Even with his powers, it was too much for Jack to handle, though. It did throw off Mr. Treacherous after all. "Damn these waves! They're persistently erratic!"

"No, captain." Hiccup hollered from his position, studying the findings of the radar. The white-haired man strained to repossess the control over the ship while listening to what the explorer had to say. "Definitely not erratic at all. There'll be one more in precisely forty seven point two seconds. Followed by the biggest blast of them all!"

Jack widened his eyes, before grinning in epiphany. "That's it! Good looking out, Hic!" He gives in to the force a tad bit now, "We'll ride that final blast out of here!"

"All sails secured, Captain!" Aster calls out with a salute.

Jack looked towards him on the deck, "No, change of plans! Release them again! Immediately!"

"Ah—Aye, Captain?" Aster blinked, before shaking his head. He turned towards the crew, just coming down from at the shrouds, "You heard the man, fellas. Unfurl those sails!"

The twin sailors cried out in outraged unison, "WHAT?!"

"But we just finished..." Tuffnut started.

Ruffnut groused, ".. Tying them down!"

"Make up your damn minds before shouting out orders, why don't ya!" Dagur huffed, before they started their ascent once more. "And they call us the imbeciles!"

Scroop grumbled, rolling his eyes before climbing back up. Aster climbed up himself to help speed up the operation, Dimitri and Jim following close behind.

"Not you, Mr. Hawkins!" Jack hollered, and both cabin boys stopped. "Other guy, keep climbing. Jim, you make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight!"

The young brunette frowned, looking up at Dimitri in reluctance to separate with him. His friend nodded at him, offering an encouraging grin.

"You got this, pup. Hurry!"

Jim nodded, drawing confidence from that. "Okay, you be careful." He said before confirming his orders with Jack and rushing to secure the ropes, making sure to start with his friend's. Dimitri continued his ascent. When Jim finally tightened the last rope, Aster's, he yelled out, "Lifelines secured, Captain!"

Jack nodded in approval, "Very good!" he said, keeping his hands on the wheel.

Aster finished his task on his end, and started his climb back down, when an aftershock wave blasted through. Caught off guard, he lost his grip momentarily but it was enough to send him falling down towards the black hole. Jack, who had been thrown off the wheel himself during the wave, didn't notice the accident. Luckily, Jim's lifeline knots held steady and Aster was still anchored against the ship.

The first officer grabbed onto the rope and made to start climbing back. Then, his ears started twitching, as if in warning. And he widened his eyes in horror as he sees Scroop crawling up to his stretched rope.

Aster could only growl, "Don't ya try it, ya bloody—" was all he managed to get before the spideresque alien cut down the line. Aster cried out in panic, flailing his arms as if trying to reach on to for any last resort, only managing to grab his pendant that started to come off during his fall.

He continued spiraling down to the abyss, until he was totally enveloped in darkness.

Scroop grinned, feeling triumphant and soaked in the feeling, till Hiccup's urgent cry brought it back down. "Captain, the last wave!" He called out, "Here it comes!"

Dimitri had just dropped down from the shrouds when Jim pulled him against the mast. The older brunette changed places with him, pressing Jim into the mast and holding the boy tightly between it and him, Pooka snuggling herself between them.

"Hold on to your lifelines, men! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Jack hollered as the descended into the pitch black void.


	7. "Making of greatness in you!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loss and hope come together

A fiery blast erupted from the void.

The ship reappeared, and was charging its way out of it. The solar sails caught the force of the blast, powering up themselves. The ignition activated on its own, and in no time at all, the ship managed to escape the perilous void. At the sounds of cheers and merriment of Jack's name, Dimitri and Jim slowly started to relax their muscles, opening their previously pinched up eyes as Pooka cheered beside them, flying towards Jack and rubbing against the captain's cheek. The white haired man chuckled, poking the little thing a bit in response.

"Jack!" Hiccup gasped, walking towards the man, high with immense relief. "Uh, I mean, Captain, you, that— Holy Freyja, that was, that was absolutely, that was the most— You were amazing, you are—!"

Jack turned towards him, chuckling and placing finger to shush the explorer, "Gonna stop you right there," he smirked, "Much as I do love basking in my finer moments, I do recognize where credit is due; couldn't have pulled this off without your astronomical observation."

"Uh, I—" Hiccup blinked, very aware of the oddly cold finger pressed against his lips. "Well, uh, uh— thank you. Glad to help you anytime, anatomically..." He widened his eyes, blushing furiously at Jack's raised brow. "I mean astronomically!"

Jack snickered in amusement, a little blush on his cheeks as well, as he shook his head and turned towards his crew, walking down to the main deck, and he sees the cabin boys in front of the group. He smiled proudly at Jim.

"Well, guess congratulations are in order." The captain started, nodding towards Jim. "You handled those lifelines like a pro, lad. Well done!" He smiled as Dimitri and Jim grinned at each other, the taller of the two nudging his friend proudly. Jack cleared his throat, addressing the entire crew once more, trying to find a particular person. "All hands accounted for, Aster?" He called out.

Everyone started to look for the first officer. Jack frowned, because Aster was always prompt and quick with his responses. He just realized he hadn't heard him since he last gave an order, to let loose their sails.

"Aster?"

Finally, someone came forward, but it wasn't the first officer.

"I'm afraid," Scroop started, looking remorseful than anyone's ever seen him "Mr. Aster has been lost." He held out a familiar cord, missing the egg pendant that had been attached to it though. Jack's eyes widened, and started to shine, dismayed as he took the cord, "His lifeline was not secured."

All eyes fell on Jim. The younger boy, his eyes wide in alarm, looked at Dimitri for help. The taller boy looked in a loss, just as he was. Jim shook his head fiercely, "No, I checked them all!" He protested, in denial.

Followed by his friend, Jim rushed back to where all lifelines were tied, even Aster's... Except it had been disconnected. Dimitri pulled on the line, and found that its been singed off. "Stray fire blast from the dying star, perhaps..." He said weakly.

"No..." Jim whimpered, heart dropping to his stomach as he realized the bleak truth: Aster was loss. "It can't be... I, I'm sorry, I—"

Jack pinched his eyes shut and took a long breath before speaking again, "It... was out of our control, lad. You did... Not that a single lost life means any less... Still, most are accounted for." He started, his voice still shaky, and Jim knew he was simply trying to save face in front of the crew. Jack cleared his throat, "A moment of silence for E. Aster Bunnymund." The captain said solemnly, bowing his head and holding the cord against his chest.

Hiccup frowned, his eyes downcast as he bowed his head similar to Jack. Everyone followed suit, but Scroop hid a secret smirk as he did. It did not go unnoticed by Drago, who huffed irately.

"He was a—" Another attempt to clear his throat, "Ahem. Fine spacer, finer than most of us could ever hope to be... but he knew the risks, as do we all." Jack nodded towards all of them, raising his head once more and floated above them, "Resume your posts. We carry on..." He flew back to the sterncastle deck.

Jim's shoulders shook, eyes shining wetly as he turned away. Dimitri frowned as he watched him sadly, but he decided to give him a moment for now. He stopped Pooka from going towards him, too, and walked away. He would check on him after a while. Hiccup, on the other hand, looked up to where Jack went. He bit his lower lip, rubbing the back of his neck indecisively.

Finally, the explorer took a breath and slowly made his way up.

Jack was seated in front of the wheel, leaning against it. He took some kind of tiny doll from his pocket, a painted figure of sorts, of him and Aster. He pulled it apart from the middle, at their waist part, and small holographic images appeared. Unlike Sarah's locket, it wasn't in motion. But held still images of Jack and Aster together, a few with his fellow Guardian Militia officers. Then, Jack jolted as he realized someone stood beside him, and was about to tell off whichever sailor it was.

But then, he saw that it was Hiccup. "Hey..." The explorer started awkwardly, gesturing to the space beside him. "This seat taken?"

"Nope," Jack managed quietly, "but gotta warn you, I'm not very good company right now."

Hiccup took the spot anyway, "That's fine. I'm not good company half the time," he quipped, "tend to bore people when I talk about my explorations and findings."

"I don't know, sounds pretty interesting to me..." Jack shrugged, "maybe you just need to talk to someone who gets it."

Hiccup looked at Jack, worrying his lower lip, he decided to take a shot. "You offering, captain?"

"Maybe I might." Jack said, chuckling at the familiar response. "But you gotta wine and dine me first."

The two let a comfortable silence pass for a moment. Hiccup smiled, glad Jack had taken it better this time. But then, he frowned at himself, moving onto the handsome captain so quickly short after Aster's death. He decided to hold off a little longer, in his respect. Which, he realized, he hadn't given yet.

"I'm sorry... About your lover." Hiccup started awkwardly, and if Jack wasn't mourning, he might've bursted into laughter. As it is, he managed a weak chuckle. "Uh, did I say something odd?"

Jack turned to him, a forced smile strained his features. "Well," he started, "you just implied that my own brother was a romantic partner, so you tell me." 

"Your brother?! But you look—" Hiccup started, earning a raised brow from Jack. "I mean, you know... Lack of bunny ears? I mean, yours are slightly bigger but— I mean! Uh, Odin's beard...."

Jack snickered, feeling a bit better. He decided to have mercy on the guy, "We're star brothers, born under the same constellation alignment at Tsar Lunar's great Hall, as well as those in the Guardian Militia. We're pretty much all family." He said, "while Aster was gifted with superior strength, speed, and intuition, I received the command over the winds, to a certain extent."

"So it was you who cleaned me up that one time..."

"Bingo."

"Thanks for that. And, uh, about presuming things between you and your brother, uh, yeah, I'm so sorry, too, I—"

Jack shook his head, consoling him. Funny, how the tables turned. "It's fine, usually what we were going for, you wouldn't believe the amount of unwanted suitors we had to repel. Became second nature." Hiccup stayed quiet, not admitting out loud that it was easy to believe. "It's funny, cause you're the first who seemed to actually buy it completely." he said. Then, Jack faltered, getting hit by a wistful wave of loss. "Figures, though. Finally get the respect due to me from this crew, and he isn't there to see it..."

Hiccup hesitated at first before he rubbed Jack's comfortingly, "I, uh, he'd be really proud, I think."

"Could've left the last part out," Jack quipped lightly, shaking his head, "... Anyway, thanks, for the laugh. I, well, I needed it... Just enough to help me recover..."

Hiccup frowned, nudging the captain lightly. "It's okay, you know, to be upset. You don't have to be strong at all times."

"I'm the captain," Jack snorted, "kinda par for the course."

"Well," Hiccup snorted back, "there's no crew, so you're not a captain now... Snowflake."

Jack smiled at the familiar nickname, despite the heartache that came with it. "Is this insubordination, Mr. Haddock?"

"Technically, I don't work for you, you do." And it was true. Hiccup was the one who finance the expedition. "This is, uh, consolation."

Jack chuckled, shaking his head. "I'll let that slide just this once." He allowed, before resting his head on the rich heir. "thank you, Hiccup... Sorry, I mean Hamish."

"You can stick to Hiccup," The brunette allowed, "Kinda used to it at this point."

Jack laughed once more. Hiccup smiled a bit, enjoying the moment despite the air of loss hanging from it. But then, he catches sight of Jim, alone up at the shrouds. He turned towards the captain reluctantly.

"I—" Hiccup started, sighing. "I think I better... check on him."

Jack frowned, wondering what he meant. Then he sees Jim, too. He nodded, "Go ahead," the captain said quietly, "He might not believe it, but tell him... Tell him I don't blame him."

"Yeah, he might not." Hiccup conceded with a bit of a smile, "But thank you."

**───────**

The ship creaked silently as Jim stared off into space, fiddling with a rope in his hands. In the back of his mind, some part in him knew he couldn't be blamed for this; as Dimitri assumed, the rope being cut off wasn't his doing. And he had secured all lifelines, everyone could see that. 

But it didn't change the fact that Jim felt he had fallen short, and that it had cost a life again.

"It wasn't your fault, you know?" The young brunette sighed as he heard Hiccup come up. "I mean, even the captain doesn't blame you. Said so himself, half the crew would be lost in that black abyss—"

Jim growled, throwing away the rope in frustration before jumping down from the shrouds, "Look, don't you get it?!" He hissed, jumping down to the deck and getting into Hiccup's frowning face, "I screwed up! For two seconds, I thought that, maybe, I could do something right, but—"

"You did," Hiccup tried to reason with him, "just, you know, a set back—"

Jim groaned, holding his head between his hands in frustration, "It doesn't matter! If I just, I don't know, remained posted there maybe, I could've done more, done better! But no, I always fall short! I couldn't save Aster, or even Dimi— AUGH!" He screamed in frustration, turning away from the explorer. "Just forget it. Forget it...." He sobbed brokenly, leaning heavily against the mast.

"Now, you listen to me, James Pleiades Hawkins." Hiccup huffed, reaching for him once more, and turning him back towards him. "You got the makings of greatness in you! I believe in you, your parents do, Dimitri for sure, and I even dare think that Aster had, too." The explorer held the young boy firmly by the shoulders, Jim stared at the man, trying to process his words, as tears started to openly fall now. "But all that means nothing unless you believe in yourself first! Life's going to beat down on you, countless of times. And you're gonna fall a lot, I know I have. But that doesn't mean you can't get back up. You can, bud. You've got potential, you do."

"He's right, you know..."

The two startled, turning around to see the other cabin boy come out from the shadows. Dimitri rubbed at the back of his head, smiling crookedly. 

"Er, I meant to come in first, but Mr. Hamish beat me to it. Jim," The cabin boy started, walking towards his friend, and placing his hands on Jim's shoulders, "you'll get your chance. You'll get to show what you're made of, and no setbacks at all. You'll be able to shine through all your past failures, and l'm definitely hoping to see that light coming off you that day."

Jim looked up to his best friend brokenly, still sorely upset with what had happened. But seeing Dimitri smiling down on him, with him and Hiccup believing in him and showing him as much, was enough to comfort him, even a little bit. He sobbed harshly once more, before laying his head on Dimitri's chest.

The taller cabin boy chuckled fondly, wrapping his arms around his friend and holding him tightly against him. "There, there, you little puppy." Dimitri soothed, rubbing Jim's back comfortingly.

Hiccup smiled before leaving to give them their moment.

"I've got you, it's okay. Let it out..." Jim responded with more broken sobs, and Dimitri felt the front part of his shirt dampen, but he didn't care. "There you go, you did just fine, Jim..." The young brunette nodded, finally responding to that and starting to believe it as he wrapped his arms around Dimitri's waist. Pooka stirred awake and out of her master's pocket, joining in the cuddling as well.

Little did they suspect, they weren't alone; they were being watched.

And not by friendly eyes either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case no one got it, the doll Jack held was similar to what was shown in his movie.


	8. "Soft spot for Him"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidden secrets come to light

Dawn came in a few hours later, after the tragic events the night before, nearly forgotten by most of the crew who now remain sound asleep, light and heavy snores filled the room. Jim groaned, thinking for a moment that he was back home. He tried reaching for the nonexistent snooze button, thinking the noisy snores were his sounding alarm, and Jim ended up falling off his hammock and into Dimitri's below.

"Ugh..." The cabin boy groaned, pushing Jim off unintentionally, "... not the way I wanna wake up... don't wanna ye..." Dimitri yawned widely, turning over. "...t... Five... more min..."

Jim moaned sluggishly, starting to pull his boots back on, knowing he wouldn't be able to get back to his previous, comfortable slumber. As he reached for the other one, it moved away from him, hopping away towards the luggage chests.

"Pooka?" Jim asked, rubbing at his face, still a tad drowsy. He yawned, getting onto his feet and tucked in his shirt to his trousers as he walked towards the chests, trying to get his boot back. "Pooka, knock it off." He whined, looking around for the shape-shifter, the dim lighting from the early morning rays barely helping. "It's too early for this..." He yelped, wide awake now as he was suddenly kicked from behind. "Ow! Hey, Pooka!" Jim growled, turning around. 

His own boot pulled a tongue out at him, before transforming back into the Morph. She picked up the real boot and flew across the room.

"Hey, come back here!"

"_Come back here_!"

Jim laughed as he chased after the Morph. She went through Dimitri's hammock, which toppled over when Jim tried going through it. The guy on it groaned, turning over, complaining about his five minutes being over too soon, pulling his own shoes on. Pooka flew out of the cargo hold. Jim grabbed Dimitri's arm and chased after the creature.

Dimitri complained as he struggled to keep up. Unlike Jim, he wasn't kicked awake. "Why do I have to come? It's your boot."

"She's your pet!" Jim shot back, finally letting go of Dimitri's arm to dive through the air, catching his boot as the Morph fell into a hole, "Gotcha!" He grinned triumphantly.

Pooka flew back up, pouting. She morphed into a blow fish and squirted water unto Jim's face. Dimitri snickered as he walked behind him, and the younger boy scowled at Pooka's smug expression. 

"That's it, you little squid!"

"_You little squid. You little squid._"

Jim huffed, grabbing for the morph. But Pooka dodges it once more, going back down the galley, only to pop out intermittently as tiny heads of Jim. The brunette snickered, trying to hit her with his recently reclaimed boot.

"_Squid. Squid. Squid. Squid_!"

Dimitri rolled his eyes, smiling in amusement. "You guys having fun there?" He teased, but was really relieved that Jim's mood had improved over night.

Finally, Pooka seemed to stop. Jim remained at ready with his boot, just in case. Then, when he finally gave in that the morph wasn't coming back, he pulled his boot back on and dragged Dimitri down to the galley. They examined the empty room, looking for Pooka. Dimitri checked with the kitchen equipment, while Jim looked into each other lesser barrels. 

"Ha!" Dimitri jolted, almost dropping a frying pan at the outcry. He whirled around and saw his friend above a purp barrel. "Busted!" 

Jim cheered, diving into the purp barrel, much to Dimitri's fond amusement. He watched as his friend struggled inside it with Pooka, before opening his mouth to tell them to knock it off and not spoil the fruit.

"Look. What we're saying is—" 

Dimitri stiffened as he heard the approaching voices. He warned Jim and Pooka to quiet down, before replacing the lid and sitting on top of it.

"—we're sick of all this waiting." Randall insisted as he spoke with Drago, the rest of the crew behind them. The lizard paused, realizing a prior presence. "Oh, hey Dimitri."

Drago rolled his eyes, impatient. "Mind getting to the point, Randall?"

"Look. There's only three of them left. All of them, nothing on the bunny man." Randall pointed out, "we can take 'em out, easy."

Dagur huffed, fiddling with his daggers. "Yeah, let's get it on already," he insisted, "It's getting boring, just following orders!"

"I've said this a thousand times, and I don't like repeating myself." Drago grunted irately, "We don't move till we got the treasure in hand!" He practically boomed.

Jim jolted from under the barrel, and it would've toppled over if Dimitri hadn't been sitting on top of it. But the cabin boy above definitely felt the movement. He shifted, making a show that, in case anyone saw it move, it was his doing.

Scroop backed up the other two, "Aye, me say we kill 'em all now."

"I say what's to say!" Drago growled in his booming voice, grabbing the spideresque alien with his steel, armored arm and. Scroop visibly struggled. "Disobeyed my orders again with that stunt you pulled with the bunny man—!"

Dimitri widened his eyes, mouth agape. He wondered what Jim was thinking now, with this revelation. On one side, at least he knew that it really wasn't his fault now.

"—so help me, any more insubordination from you, I'll throw you into a void myself!"

Scroop grunted as he was tossed to the ground roughly. "Better a hardheaded follower..." He hissed, before glaring at the present cabin boy, "... than a rogue backstabber."

"What are you looking at me for, bug-brain?" Dimitri scowled, but deep inside, a sense of foreboding settled on his chest. "I followed my orders."

Scroop glared back at him, "A little too well, you did." He hissed, and from underneath the barrel, Jim felt worried for his friend's well-being, though he did stiffle Pooka who started whimpering in fear. At the same time, Jim did wonder what the alien meant. "you planning to change sides, aren't ya? To be with that little whelp of yours... Methinks you have a soft spot for him."

The other sailors made sounds of agreement, even Drago looked like he was considering this.

"Hey, I do what needs to be done," Dimitri hissed, playing it up; not giving in to the accusation that easily. "Gotta lay it thick, you know? Otherwise he'd never believe me. As if I'd turn against Drago. You think I value my life less than that of some nose-wiping little brat?"

Jim's eyes widened in horror, his heart broken by the fact that Dimitri lied, about not wanting to work with Drago. He might've even lied about the story he told, the night before. His shoulders shook, trying to hold in his sobs. The last thing he needed was to get caught.

Then again, Dimitri sat above him. Maybe he already was.

"What was it now?" Scroop hummed, sneering at Dimitri as he stood over him. "'_I hope to see that light coming off ya someday_.'" He grinned, making an exaggerated hugging gesture.

Color practically drained off his face, "Cut it out!" Dimitri growled, almost desperate now. "I cozied up to him, just like you said. It has nothing to do with switching loyalties. I kept him off our scent longer than the rest have, hadn't I? Didn't get into the brawl with him on the first day. Plus, I'm not losing my share of the treasure over him!"

Drago didn't look like he believed a word. But before he could make a remark about it, pass his judgment, the raspy but loud cry of Mildew reached the galley. 

"Planet ho!"

Suddenly piqued with excitement, the sailors rushed up the deck. Dimitri sighed in relief, before turning around to let Jim and Pooka out, only to have a solid smack resound when a hand hit his face.

The man groaned, wincing as he rubbed at his face. "Ow... Broke my nose... Okay, deserved that." He conceded as he helped Jim out of the barrel even while the younger boy glared at him.

"You lied to me!" Jim groused, throwing another jab towards his chest but Dimitri caught it. He kept up his attempts, though. And the two struggled, Pooka a fretting frenzy at their side. "All the stuff you ever said, all the talk about believing in me, you were just following orders."

"Jim, listen, it's not like that! It was never like that! I didn't lie." Dimitri protested pleadingly, "I promise, what I said... I had to say it; I can't have them thinking that, yes, I was finally turning against them at last, that wouldn't help either of us."

Jim wasn't having it though, the only thing going through his mind that he's been betrayed by the one person he wanted to trust in the most. Even his emotions were battling it out, which was more prominent than the other; rage or despair.

"Shut up!" He hissed, "From the very beginning you lied! Because you knew about their plan, that they were going to hijack this expedition, kill us, and take the treasure for themselves. You knew! And kept it from me, you bastard, you never cared at all!"

"Jim no, that's not true! I love you!"

Jim froze, stopping his attack and stared at Dimitri openly, wide blue eyes and mouth popped open. "You wha—"

"Yeah," Dimitri muttered, a blush staining his cheeks, "guess that's out there. But I've got no time to explain. We need to—" He turned around, seeing Chet and his usual goons at his side. "Ah, great."

The trio growled at him, "Knew you were gonna back stab us, cabin boy..."

"Yeah, well, know what I'm gonna do next?" Dimitri scoffed, before grabbing the lid from the barrel and throwing it towards them. "Heads up!"

It hit the overhead lights, causing it to fall and spark in front of them. It stunned the aliens long enough for Dimitri to grab Jim's arm, Pooka, and side stepped away from them. By the time Chet and the other two regained themselves, the cabin boys had already made their way across the ship and inside Jack's stateroom.

"Damn those brats," Chet made a sharp whistle, earning Drago's attention as well as the rest of their crew. "Sorry sir, cover's been blown. Scroop was right, Dimitri's gone rogue!"

Drago growled, taking a sword from his sheathe. "Looks like ya imbeciles are getting what ya want. Change in plans, we move now!" He announced.

Around him, the pirates cheered. At the snap of Drago's fingers, Mildew snatched Tsar Lunar's flag, bringing it down to be replaced it with their colors.

───────

"Pirates on the Tsar's ship?" Jack grumbled as he went through the weapon's cabinet. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" He took out something long wrapped in a cloth, and removed the material.

It revealed a staff, with one crooked end. 

"A staff?" Hiccup frowned, "That's not gonna..."

Jack zapped the door, and a large amount of frost enveloped the passage. Hiccup, Dimitri and Jim gawked, staring at the door first then back to the captain.

"Aster didn't call me Snowflake for nothing. Like it? It's a special weapon that Manny gifted me after..." The captain trailed off as they heard the pirates trying to get in, "You know, I'll tell you about it en route. Hiccup, you familiar with these?" Jack throws the man a pistol after he powers up.

"Oh, I've seen... Well, more like read and—" The brunette accidentally triggers it, almost hitting the white haired man who barely had time to blink, let alone move. "Uh, no. No. No, I'm not." He responded, chagrined. He handed it over to Dimitri instead, who put the safety lock back in place before pocketing it. "Uh, I have... a flaming sword?"

Jack sighed in exasperation, "Manny, help us..." he shook his head as he retrieved the map from a tiny chest, unaware of Pooka, marveling at the item, "Mr. Hawkins!" Jack called out, jolting Jim in surprise as the teenager was still staring at the frosted door, "Defend this with your life."

Pooka snatched it from the air before Jim could catch it, "Pooka! Bad girl, Give me that!" He groused, reaching for it, the same time Dimitri made a grab for his pet, and they ended up touching hands.

Blush colored their cheeks, as Dimitri pulled away and Jim drew back with the map now at hand, pocketing it as he avoided looking at his friend. Hiccup frowned as he observed the odd exchange.... or lack thereof.

"Hic," The explorer is startled out of his thoughts, looking at the captain who was tapping his foot to the floor. "you said you had a flaming sword, right?"

───────

The sailors continued their attempt to break into the stateroom, but every time they thawed at the ice covering it, a new sheet reforms.

Drago pushed passed them impatiently. "Ya damn fools, do I gotta do everything myself?!" He swung back his artificial arm and broke down the door. His crew stormed in after him, only to find it empty.

A burnt open hole, a telling sign where the occupants have gone.

"To the longboats, quickly!"

Meanwhile, Jack led the group through the steps, heading to the cargo hold. Soon, they heard the sounds of heavy thuds, an indication that they were being pursued. The captain cursed under his breath, hovering as he continued after the brunettes who ran ahead of him. Jack launched icy blasts from his staff, building ice wall blocks at their path and slowing them down. This also gave him time to switch gears. He used the crook to flick a switch, opening the hatch below the longboat. By the time they made it to the vehicle, Jack had sheathed his staff and replaced it with a laser pistol. Hiccup climbed onto the boat, followed by Jim when the bronze sphere fell off the his pocket. Pooka went back for it. Dimitri cursed, throwing his pistol towards the younger brunette before going after her.

Jim huffed in frustration, about to follow after the duo when hostile shots started firing at them.

"Take this," Jack hissed, activating his gun and cocking it towards them. "you piece of dragon-dungs!" 

Jim watched carefully as the captain launched his own shots, and once the opportunity presented itself, he left the boat as well as the pistol Dimitri tossed his way. Hiccup sees this and struggled to release it from the safety lock. The moment Jack ceases fire to take cover momentarily, Hiccup succeeds in his attempts and tried for a single shot. He ended up shooting an overhead net of water barrels, having it tumbling down on to Chet and his lackeys, causing them to fall off from the ledge and down away from the ship.

Jack blinked, coming out from cover, giving Hiccup a surprised look. "Was that an intentional shot?"

"Intentional or not," Hiccup shrugged, grinning weakly, "it worked, right?"

Jack smirked, shaking his head in amusement, before something in his peripheral catches his attention. He pushed Hiccup down for cover once more as shots from incoming pirates started down on them.

And the ship's hatch started closing once more as Drago pulled up the switch. 

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me..." Jack growled, as he looked up and took notice of the ropes still lowering them down. He turned towards the explorer, "Hic, when I give the signal, shoot out the forward cable. I'll take this one."

Hiccup nodded, preparing the pistol and hoping Jim would hurry back already.

Dimitri groaned as he chased after Pooka. After she had retrieved the sphere, instead of returning to him, she thought it was a good time to play. He finally dove for her and captured her, but made the mistake of surprising the Morph, causing Pooka to cough out the sphere and down to a rope pile below.

"Agh, damn it," Dimitri huffed, glaring at a chagrined Pooka, "maybe a dog is better..."

"NOW!"

Dimitri raised his head in alarm, as Hiccup and Jack shot down the cables and sees Jim still here, approaching him. He was beyond hair-pulling exasperation at this point. "You dork!" He hissed, "What are you still doing here for? GO Jim, Get going, and get outta here! I'll stall them."

"What, no, you don't even have a weapon anymore!" Jim bite back harshly, "You need to come with us!"

"I said go! Now!" Dimitri growled, pushing Jim to get going. He widened his eyes at a mistake he realized too late. "Pooka! Help him!"

Jim cried out as he fell towards the boat, but missed it completely. The morph soared through the air, transforming into a hand and grabbing Jim's. This only helped in lessening the falling speed. Hiccup gawked at the sight, jumping off the edge of the longboat. Disengaging his flight suit, he glided through the air, and managed to make it towards the young brunette. He didn't account for the free fall that followed as soon as he grabbed the boy. Thankfully, Jack navigated the long boat towards them and caught them at the right time.

The brunettes grunted.

"Next time, a little warning you two!" The captain groused, before turning to the controls, "Parameters met. Hydraulics engaged. This time, hang on better!"

The longboat launched further away from the legacy, but not out of range just yet.

"Jack!" Hiccup called out, making sure Jim stayed on the boat, as the younger teenager tried looking back to the ship, trying to catch a glimpse of Dimitri. "Incoming fireball, lookout!"

Jack responded instantly by changing course, but it only helped in avoiding them being the direct hit of the shot. It still hit the rear, causing a fiery blast to erupt behind him. He gasped upon impact, but immediately grabbed the handle to keep whatever remaining control they had on the boat. Hiccup and Jim hanged on for dear life, screaming as they started to descend at a rapid speed.

Till finally, they run aground, with their boat toppling over them.


	9. "Bargain for the Map"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New ally, and Bargaining chips

Jim grunted, pushing against one side of the boat, tipping it over to make an opening. He moaned, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Odin, have mercy..." Hiccup groaned, going out through the opening and stretching his back, "I'm still young, I should not be feeling a bad back."

Jack chuckled, though it sounded strained, as he followed after the explorer, "Heh, yeah, definitely not one of my finer landings..." He huffed as he stood upright, "Still. Better than the one when I first learned how to fl...... Nnh!"

"Jack!"

"Captain!"

Hiccup and Jim cried out respectively, alarmed as the white haired man collapsed, clutching on to his torso painfully. The explorer leaned down, taking Jack's arm and helping him back up. The captain shrugged off the aid the moment he got uprighted. 

"Oh. Ooh. Oh, I'm okay..." Jack muttered, which was doubtful as he started collapsing again as soon as he stood up. Still, he shook it off. "Just a mild case of vertigo. Comes occasionally with the flying territory. Just need a moment."

Hiccup frowned, as Jack took a breath. Someone in vertigo doesn't make cries of pain like those earlier. Jack pulled on the hem of his dress shirt, casually patting dust off his cape, in an unnecessary dignified manner, chin up as if trying to prove his point. He turned to Hiccup.

"Now, Mr. Hawkins..." Jack started, and the explorer made a look, crossing his arms in further scepticism. The captain squinted his eyes, before realizing the mistake. Chagrined, he cleared his throat and turned to the younger brunette. "Jamie... I mean, James... Jim," He paused for a moment, "Kid, just give me the map."

Jim sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I would," he started, "but Pooka—" he groused pointedly, "dropped it."

"_Dropped it first! Dropped it first!_"

"Well, you could've given it back as soon as you got it!" Jim shot back irately, "but you didn't, and now Dimitri's—" he broke off miserably. "That dimwit..." 

Pooka whimpered guiltily, rubbing against Jim's cheek consolingly. Jack and Hiccup frowned. Then, the captain hears a sound of engine whirling, and turned his head. He grumbled in exasperation. 

"Great, incoming imbeciles." Jack shook his head, stopping immediately as it triggered another dizzy spell. He huffed, looking at the boat. "we're gonna need a better cover than this. Let's—" The captain didn't get to finish as he started falling back once more.

Hiccup, who had been watching carefully, caught him in time and lowered him to lay him on the ground. The explorer took his own pistol, and handed it over to Jim. "Bud, scout ahead for a hideout." Hiccup told him, before looking back at Jack's sulking expression. "And you, shut up, close your eyes for now, and let me see what's really going on."

"You just want to finally get my clothes off me," Jack snorted, earning a blush from Hiccup. "you still owe me wine and dinner..." he mumbled as he closed his eyes and the explorer finally got to check him over as Jim pocketed the weapon, and made his way through the area.

─────── 

Pooka did the scouting job mostly, as Jim was too occupied in his thoughts to focus. He was still worried about Dimitri. He could only hope that his friend was still alive. Drago was obviously not a forgiving man, but Jim didn't want to think Dimitri was dead. Even if he had been angry with him earlier. After all, he wasn't now.

He was a current mess of emotional confusion, though.

_Dimitri said... He said he loved me. Me._ Jim was still reeling at the confession, it left him totally blindsided._ Was that another lie? No, he was trying to tell me that he never lied. But then was he lying about... No, he blushed. No matter how good a liar, they can't control body reactions. So maybe..._ Jim worried his lower lip, _maybe it wasn't all a lie?_

Jim groaned, kicking at the crowd. Pooka whimpered in concern. The brunette stopped in his tracks, a hand to his forehead as he tried to reign in his overwhelmed, raging emotions.

_And... and me? how do I, do I—_

Jim is broken out of his thoughts at the sound of rattling. Pooka turned around abruptly to the sounds as well. She whined, as Jim shushed her and reached for the pistol. He activated it, as he slowly approached some strange shrubs, where the sound came from.

And then the green eye lens of a robot was in front of him. "Aah!" Jim's own scream was cut off as the mechanical thing pounced on him, poking places that didn't needed to be poked, like his mouth.

Pooka circulated the two, perplexed.

"Oh, this is fantastic! A carbon-based life form come to rescue me at last!"

_Doesn't seem hostile, at least, _Jim smacked his mouth, trying to get the taste of rusted metal and dust off. He starts to get up as the thing finally got off him. He reached down for his weapon when he was suddenly embraced by the thing. "Hey—!" 

"I just want to hug you and squeeze you and hold you close to me."

Jim huffed, trying to push off the overly affectionate robot. "All right. Okay!" He groused as the thing kept reattaching itself to him, "Would you just let go of me?"

"Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry." Chagrined, the robot pulled away, "It's just..." The robot smiled awkwardly, draping a scrawny, metallic arm over the brunette. He stared at it but thought it was at least better than being smothered by it, "I've been marooned for so long. I mean, solitude's fine. Don't get me wrong. For Valhalla's sake, after a hundred years..." Jim raised a brow at the long pause before jolting as the thing practically screamed, with his eyes extending in and out of his body. "you go a little nuts!"

Jim raised a brow as the robot proceeded to laugh awkwardly. He gave him a pointed look.

"I'm sorry. Am l..." The robot stepped away once more, fixing up the brunette's shirt in apology. "I am, um..." Another pause, and Pooka hovers over to Jim and settled on his shoulder. "My name is, uh..."

Jim frowned at his struggle, and Pooka transformed into Dimitri. The Pooka-Dimitri made circular motion with its finger to Pooka-Dimitri's head. The brunette chuckled briefly in amusement, while his heart ached with longingly. Pooka's probably did too, as he took the man's form for the impression expression.

"B.E.N.!" Jim jolted at the robot's outcry, "Of course, I'm B.E.N. Bio-electronic Navigator." He explained as a frontal clock piece of his chest pops out and he pushed it back in. "And you are?"

The brunette realizes his pistol and bends over to pick it, "Jim."

"Oh, what a pleasure to meet you, Jimmy!" B.E.N. takes the brunette's hand before it can pick up the gun.

Jim huffed, shoving it away. "It's Jim." He corrected before taking the pistol inching away from the literally crazy robot. "Look, I'm kind of in a hurry, okay? I got to find a place to hide, land there's pirates chasing me...."

"Oh, pirates!" Once more, B.E.N. gets on his face and Jim was starting to be driven crazy himself with the hyperactive robot. He gestured to Pooka that they were going to give him the slip when B.E.N. gets distracted. "Don't get me started on pirates! I don't like them." The robot sighed, unaware of the two intending on leaving him talking. "I remember Captain Flint."

Jim stopped on his tracks, wide-eyed as he turned back towards the robot. Pooka looked at Jim in confusion as the brunette made his way back to the still speaking robot.

"...This guy had such a temper." 

"Wait, wait, wait." Jim waved his hands, before standing in front of B.E.N. "You _knew_ Captain Flint?"

The robot leaned back against a tree, folding his hands behind his head. "I think he suffered from mood swings, personally. I'm not a therapist, in any way but l—" B.E.N. paused, as if he realized he was the only one talking, "you let me know when l'm rambling."

"But that means—" Jim frowned, as it occurred to him that the robot had mentioned being on the island for a century. It could be possible that if this wasn't another crazy talk, then B.E.N. was telling the truth. He grinned. They didn't need the map if they had someone who actually knew the legendary pirate. "but wait. But then you gotta know about the treasure?"

B.E.N. blinked, stunned silence and for the first time since the encounter, was at a loss for words. "Treasure?"

"Yeah, Flint's trove?" Jim continued eagerly, for once wishing the robot would ramble on, "You know," The brunette gestured for Pooka to help him out, and she did so by turning into a treasure chest of gold herself, "the loot of a thousand worlds?"

B.E.N. shakily leaned away from the tree, holding onto his head as it was in pain. "It's—well, it's... It's all a little—little—little fuzzy." Jim frowned as some sparks flew, coming from the exposed wires from the back of the robot's head. "Wait. I—I r, r-remember. I do. I—treasure! Lots of treasure buried in the centroid— centroid!" The brunette jolted, sharing a look with Pooka as they he was grimacing.

They watched as the robot's eye went into a frenzy, showing some images related to what he was saying. Jim started worrying about the robot's mental state... or lack thereof.

"— centroid of the mechanism. And there was this big door opening and closing.. and opening and closing.. and Captain Flint wanted to make sure nobody could ever get to his treasure, so I helped him..." Sparks continued to fly off the wires, B.E.N. sputtered nonsensically as he tried to continue. "Aah! Data inaccessible! Reboot! Reboot! Reboot!" 

Jim called out the robot's name several times to get him to snap out of his frenzy snapped. Seeing that it was futile, the brunette stepped forward to give him a good slap. 

"—Reboot! Aah!" The robot cried out, startled. He seemed to regained his composure, as he spoke to Jim in a normal pacing, but seemed to have forgotten the brunette for a moment. "And you are?"

Jim shook his head, "Wait, wait, wait! What about the treasure?" He demanded earnestly, urging B.E.N. to finish his previous explanation. 

"l want to say... Jamie?" The robot decided to answer his question.

Jim groaned, feeling like he was fighting a losing battle. "Come on, what were you saying? About... about the, the centroid of the mechanism, or—" he trailed off.

"I'm sorry." B.E.N. apologized, remorseful. "My memory isn't what it used to be. I've lost my mind." He laughed humorlessly, as if at his own pun and repeated more manically. "I've lost my mind!" The robot then proceeded to push Jim against the tree and the brunette squirmed as the robot felt him up. "You haven't found it, have you?" The teenager looked at a loss for words, making no response so the robot elaborated. "my missing piece?" He turned around and stopped from groping the boy, and pointed at the exposed wires. "My primary memory circuit?"

Jim lets out a sigh of resignation as the robot waited for his answer. The brunette shook his head, and tried to maintain a patient tone as he spoke again, "Look, B.E.N., I really need to find a place to hide, okay?" The robot started to look upset as the brunette finished and started walking away with Pooka, "So, I'm just gonna be, you know, moving on."

"Oh, uh, so, well, then... I guess, uh... this is good-bye, huh?" B.E.N. started in a sad tone, and Jim stopped on his tracks the moment he hears the robot dropping to the ground, his gear parts making whining noses. "I'm sorry, that I'm so dysfunctional. So, uh, go ahead and... l do understand. l do. Bye-bye."

Jim stared at the robot, narrowing his eyes as he looked between B.E.N., and how he was obviously milking it. Though, it drew out a sad expression from Pooka. He face-palmed, exasperated. _I just know I'm gonna regret this... _Jim thought as he addressed the robot once more, "Look, if you're gonna come along, you're gonna have to stop talking."

B.E.N. brightened up almost immediately, "Huzzah! Oh, this is fantastic!" He cheered as he ran towards Jim and practically jumped onto his arms, much to the brunette's annoyance. "Me and my best buddy are lookin' for a..." He trailed off at Jim's pointed look, and clearing of throat. Chagrined, B.E.N. took it down a notch. "Being quiet." He hummed as he embraced Jim.

"And," Jim added with a huff, trying to shake his head free from the robot's grasp. "you have to stop touching me." 

B.E.N. nodded as he dropped himself back to the ground, "Touching and talking. That's my two big no-nos." He reiterated.

"Okay. Now, I think that we should—" Jim started walking forward, only to be pulled back by the robot once more. "What did I just—!"

B.E.N. interrupted the beginnings of a brunette's rants, "Say, listen, before we go out on our big search..." He walked off, and going towards a cluster of trees, and pushing against it to reveal an open clearing where an ancient shelter of sorts stood. "Um, would you mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place?" The robot chuckled awkwardly, "Kind of urgent."

"B.E.N.," Jim started, blinking in wonder, "I think you just solved my problem." He muttered, thinking to himself. _Okay, not regretting it yet._

───────

The robot went ahead to the shelter, while Jim went back for Hiccup and Jack. It seemed that the explorer had taken apart a portion of his flight suit's wing flap and made an awkward makeshift of a bandage around the captain's torso. Hiccup carried Jack all the way, and the captain succumbed to the fatigue due to his injuries to put up much of a fight.

"Uh, pardon the mess people." B.E.N. said as greeting when they've arrived, "You'd think in a hundred years I would've dusted a little more often." He chuckled nervously, as he pushed off some chess pieces of an old barrel and folded a piece of underwear. "But, you know, when you're a bachelor you tend to, uh, let things go...." He paused as Hiccup lays Jack down, having him lean on the walls, before pushing away stray fringes off the captain's face. "Aw, isn't that sweet?" The robot cooed, causing the man to look towards him as the robot pulls out some glasses with what seemed like oil in them, "I see that society had evolved, and became more accepting of romantic relations in any species or form. Good for them! So, how about drinks for the happy couple?"

Hiccup shied away from the drinks, choosing not to think about where the robot even got them from. "Uh, heh. Uh, not really thirsty now. Thanks... for offering, though. And, uh, we're not a couple." He added, sparing a glance towards Jack.

The captain simply smiled back at him fondly.

The explorer flushed, clearing his throat as he looked away. Then, Hiccup blinked, as he took notice of the patterns adorned on the walls. "Huh, now what do you suppose these are...?" Jim looked up, studying the markings himself. "These symbols are identical to the ones on the map. I wonder if they're the hieroglyphic remnants of an ancient culture." He mused.

"Mr. Hawkins," Jim startled, looking back to the captain he assumed had been drifting to sleep. Hiccup was eyeing the white haired man disapprovingly as he was folding Jack's uniform cape, "stop anyone who tries to approach—Oh!"

The explorer shook his head at the wince, "Yes, yes." He sighed, before placing the folded cape behind the man, "Now, with the highest respects, if you don't stop giving orders and start resting I'm going hit to you."

"Huh, you have a spanking kink, noted." Jack said weakly, with a teasing smirk, "Tell me, what else are you into?"

Hiccup simply rolled his eyes, smiling back at the man in fondness.

"Hey, look!" B.E.N. startled the rest of the occupants with his outcry, "There's some more of your buddies!"

Jim paled at the announcement, but before he could stop the robot, B.E.N. was already calling out to them. When the gun shots started firing, with the robot narrowly dodging them, the young brunette pulled him back down into the shelter an started firing shots of his own. His first time actually using it, he wasn't really able to take out anyone, and he ran out of ammo sooner than they did.

"Stop wastin' your fire!" At the command of Drago, Jim took the opportunity to pull back and reload. "Callin' for a parley, send the boy alone out to me!"

Jim frowned, he leaned out a bit to take a peek, and gasped, seeing Dimitri beside Drago, bounded and gagged. He looked back to the others in alarm, "They've got Dimitri!" He declared, and at that, Pooka started to make her way out, but Jim grabbed her before she could. "But... why would they keep him..."

"... Kept him alive probably to bargain for the map, I wager." Jack scowled, disgusted that the man would stoop so low and use Jim's emotional ties for his own gain. But he really didn't think it was beneath the man at this point, he struggled to get up. He wasn't letting Jim face him alone. "The crafty, manipulative... Ugh!"

Hiccup face palmed, forcing Jack back down once more, and gave him a warning look.

"That means..." Jim mused, thoughtful. "that he thinks we still have it." He realized, considering how they can use this to their advantage.

Then Drago called out once more, impatiently, threatening to burn a hole through Dimitri's skull if Jim won't be coming out soon. The brunette stood up, and headed towards the man and his friend, having the general idea of what to do, and to wing it as he went along. Pooka hang off Jim's shoulder, wanting nothing more but to go to Dimitri. But she cowered at the face of Drago, and stayed in place. Two pirates, Eret and Drago, stood behind with their guns at ready.

"Ya're a smart lad," Drago started, "sure you can see where this is going."

Jim huffed, glaring at the brute. "Sure, the map for Dimitri," He crossed his arms, "Then again, like you said, I'm smart. So, I know you'll kill us anyway."

"Maybe I will, or maybe I'll just kill the other two, and keep you boys for myself," Drago implied, smiling slyly. "Come on, do those two men up there mean more to you than your own life? You'll get a portion of the treasure, live a long life with Dimitri here, and you'll be taken care of as my pets." He grinned, "I see that as a win-win."

Jim balked, instinctively taking a step back at the image painted in his head, jostling the Morph off his shoulder. Dimitri made a low growl, muffled by his gag. Even Dagur and Eret scrunched up their nose in disgust, but only Dagur was loud about it. The other pirate nudged him roughly to quiet him down.

"You sick creep," Jim scowled vehemently, "If it isn't obvious, that's a hard no for me."

Drago growled, taking a spear from his back and pointing it to Jim, "I didn't mean to imply you had a choice, lad. Last chance," he hissed, "give me the map, surrender yourself, and I might even consider letting the other two up there live. If you refuse again, then I'll take you all out now and scour that hideout of yours nook and cranny, take the map myself..... Hm, actually," The man pointed the tip to Jim's chest, who just continued to glare at Drago defiantly, "that's sounding a lot better..."

"You can't kill him!" Dimitri finally got the gag off, thanks to Pooka's help. "Even if you take the map by force, Jim's the only one who can unlock it! Mildew said so!"

Jim widened his eyes, and scowled at his friend, "What the hell are you doing, dimwit?!"

"Sorry, pup." Dimitri scoffed, not sounding regretful at all. "But I'm not letting him kill you over that stupid orb."

Drago growled, his patience wearing thin, "All right, but then, that doesn't say the same for you." He pointed a gun to Dimitri's forehead, and the cabin boy just glares at him defiantly. "Get me that map and unlock it while you're at it, brat, or I'm blowing his brains out." 

"You do that, and you've got no leverage to use against me entirely." Jim growled, as much as fear clenched his heart. He had to play this up, make the man believe he still had the map. "You kill him, you kill us, you'll never get the map or figure out how to use it. We all lose. The way I see it, that's better than being your play thing and giving you the satisfaction of winning." He stepped forward, grabbing Eret's arm, who blinked in surprise, as he pointed the hand holding a pistol towards him. "So, what are you waiting for? Order him to take me out." He taunted, much to Dimitri's displeasure.

Eret frowned, confused as to what he should do. Finally, Drago released a long-suffering groan.

"See ya need a night to think about your options. Very well, I'm liking that delicious fire in you, and be a damn shame to just kill ya," Drago huffed irately while both Jim and Dimitri scrunched their noses in disgust, "I'll give you up until dawn tomorrow to make a decision. If you don't, I'm gonna use the ship's cannons to blast loverboy here, sky high, and let you watch before taking care of the lot of ya."

Jim frowned, taking a step forward as Dimitri was dragged away with Drago. Eret and Dagur pointed their weapons at him warningly. He glared at the two, looking passed them to catch eyes with Dimitri before he was too far out of sight. Jim sighed, shaking his head as he patted Pooka consolingly, and making his hike back up the shelter.

───────

Night has fallen, and Jim has yet to figure out the way out of this mess. Problem one, he wanted to save Dimitri. Next problem, he needed to get the map. Add that up with the fact that the pirates have taken camp just outside their shelter, sums up to one big predicament.

"Boys," Jack sighed, still weak due to his injuries. Without the proper medicine, the healing process is delayed considerably. Hiccup was worried enough that he might've risked at infection by using his suit's material as a bandage. "we must stay together and... and..." The captain breaks off in a groan, his eyes pinched shut.

The explorer held onto the captain's hand desperately, "And what? What?!" He implored, "We must stay together and what?!" 

"Hiccy," Jack started, reopening his eyes and staring into Hiccup's in unmistakable affection, "emeralds... yours eyes, they're, you... You have wonderful eyes~" He sighed, before falling unconscious and drifting off completely.

Hiccup gaped, wide eyed as he turned towards Jim incredulously, "He's lost his mind!"

"I sympathize..." B.E.N. nodded forlornly, "I really do."

Jim frowned, alarmed as well. "Well, you gotta help him!"

Aster was gone, he didn't want to lose the captain, too. And at this point, they needed all the help they can get. Even with his injuries, Jack was still an asset. Plus, he's the only one who can wield that staff of his.

"Dang it, Jim. Don't you think I would've done that by now if I could?" Hiccup growled in frustration, "l'm an explorer, not a doctor. And already did what I can. Maybe if his brother was here, he'd be able to think of something. But no, Jack is stuck with you, a robot, a flying glob thing, and a stinking fishbone!" He groused, holding his head between his head in desperation, "Can't lose him, bud, I can't, I, I..."

Jim frowned, going over to give the explorer a consoling pat on the back, finding the rant sounding a little too familiar. "You like him, don't you?"

"Doesn't matter." Hiccup sighed, releasing a breath and dropping his arms to his folded legs, "that doesn't help him now, either. And he deserves better..."

Jim shook his head, but remained silent. He didn't think it was his place to give the man a pep talk, as he was still sorting out his own situation with Dimitri's own confession. A situation taking a back seat as they were still in this predicament. The brunette walked away, giving the man a moment to himself, as he tried once more to consider his options.

"You, uh, thought of something yet, Jimmy?"

Jim lets out a breath, not bothering to correct the robot this time. He looked out towards the pirate's camp, "Without the map, we're dead. If we try to leave, Dimitri's dead." He huffed, pushing the horrible thought away from his mind as he turned back. "If we stay here...."

"_We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!_" Pooka chanted and started whimpering.

Jim sighed, slipping down to the floor and curled into himself.

"Well," B.E.N. coughed awkwardly, "I think that Jimmy could use a little quiet time. Heh, so I'll just slip out... the back door."

Jim blinked, sitting up and getting back to his feet. "Back door?"

"Oh, yeah." B.E.N. heaved as he pushed on something, and the young brunette rushed over to help, revealing some kind of hole passage. "I get this delightful breeze through here which I think is important because ventilation—"

Jim gasped, marveling at the intricate paths and energy coming from the walls, "Whoa What is all this stuff?" 

"You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run through the entire course of the inside of this planet?" The robot asked, but also answered, "Not a clue."

Jim felt a weight of his shoulders, feeling hopeful than he had been a few seconds ago. "Hey, Hic! Hiccup! I think I found a way out of here!" He announced as he climbed on top of the half orb opening. 

"No, no. Jim, wait!" Hiccup stood up, panicked. He didn't need to risk losing him, too. "The captain ordered us to stay—!" The explorer trailed off as Jim and B.E.N., followed by Pooka, dropped down into the hole. "Ugh, why do the gods hate me...?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Call me out for lazy writing for not changing much in B.E.N.'s entrance, but B.E.N. is an adorable, perfect, little bean. Anyone who says otherwise can fight me.


	10. "Good plan, I like that Plan"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to squash a bug

"Ugh, let's just go to sleep." Mildew huffed, letting out a wide mouth yawn. "There's no point keepin' watch."

Alvin grunted, wanting to agree. "Drago's gonna give us a good tellin' off if the rogue escapes." He scowled.

"He'd be too worried about that sorry pup to try anything," Mildew groused, shaking his head. "I'mta ol' for this. I'm hitting the sack." He settled down to the ground and drifted off.

Alvin huffed, glaring at Dimitri. He smacks him hard and shoved his rifle roughly to his stomach. The brunette grunted, and coughed raggedly as he scowled at the man. "Consider it a warning, rogue." He sneered, before settling in to sleep as well.

The brunette huffed, feeling stiff and sore from being tied up for hours. He pretty much gave up trying to break free from his bounds, but he wished he was in a more comfortable position. Plus, he really needed to scratch his nose. Suddenly, a hand was forcefully pressed against his mouth. Dimitri made sounds of alarm, and renewed his struggles.

"Shh! It's me." Dimitri stilled at the familiar voice of Jim, and felt his bounds loosening. "Come on, let's not waste any time."

Dimitri stood up, finally relieved to stretch out the kinks. "You— where did you..."

"Secret back door from the shelter." Jim answered quickly, "now we need to sneak back on the legacy, disable the laser cannons, and bring back the map." He outlined.

Dimitri hummed in approval, "That's a good plan," he nodded, "I like that plan. But, uh, one thing though; how are we going to get there?"

"Obviously, dimwit," Jim pointed towards a longboat where B.E.N. and Pooka were already waiting. "Same way you got here"

───────

They set for the ship, and arrived by midnight. It was eerily silent, but Dimitri said Scroop was left behind to keep watch and make sure the ship doesn't stray so they had to keep a low profile.

"In that case, B.E.N., you stay here to—" Jim trailed off as the robot already boarded on the ship, "wait, what—!"

The robot gave the brunette a salute, "Aye, Jimmy, neutralizing the laser cannons, sir!" He went off, humming, much to Jim's frustration, and Dimitri's amusement. "_Yo-ho. yo-ho, __a pirate's life for me..._"

"Does he even know how that goes?"

Jim narrowed his eyes, "No, that's why you're going after him." He said as he jumped off the longboat and to the ship.

"What, no. I said Scroop's crawling about, you can't go alo—"

Jim gestured for Looks to come over, and the Morph comes over. "I got Pooka. You get the crazy robot. Now, be quick about it, sailor." He went off.

"Agh, you damn pup," Dimitri huffed reluctantly, jumping on as he went towards the way the robot had. "I swear, if he gets himself hurt..."

Jim and Pooka made their way below deck, the opposite side from where Dimitri and B.E.N. were, to where the longboats have been. At the same time, B.E.N. had just reached the main controls room. 

"Disable a few laser cannons..." Dimitri huffed as he trudged after, already hearing the robot going through the cabinet, "What is the big deal? All we gotta do is find that one little wire..." The brunette trailed off as he sees a troubled expression on the robot's face. He frowned, coming over to take a look and balked at the countless, complex, and jumbled up wires with nothing so much as a label or guide nearby. "Oh, boy."

Jim finally made it to the cargo hold, a single longboat remaining. He jumps down from the ledge, and to the pile of rope where he'd seen Pooka dropped it. Searching through them, he breaths a sigh of relief as he was able to find the map easily enough. No sooner than he did, however, a warning alarm started blaring off for nowhere.

"Wrong!" Dimitri yelped, swiping the wire from the robot and placing it back on. "B.E.N., Wrong!"

Chagrined, the robot gestured his arms towards the brunette in a placating manner, "Okay, fixing."

"Jim..." The cabin boy paled at a thought, before rushing out. "you keep at that, I'm going to find the others!" 

Meanwhile, Jim had running with Pooka right behind him, getting back to the stairs leading up to the deck in frustration, "Dimwit, do your job better," he grumbled, "or that stupid robot's gonna get us all..." He trailed off, his shoulders sagging as he sees the spideresque alien on top of the steps, "killed."

"Cabin boy..." Scroop sneered at him menacingly, "time to finish off what I started..."

Jim widened his eyes, before turning his heels and retreating. Scroop pursued him closely, dodging the barrels the brunette had knocked on his way. Pooka tried to distract him by morphing into a piece of pie and slamming herself onto his face. The alien growled in annoyance, grabbing onto the pie morphing back into Pooka and threw her into one of those communication pipes. Jim, oblivious to Pooka's dilemma, continues running off when, up ahead, he sees Dimitri come from the way the control rooms had been. 

"Dimitri!"

"Jim!"

Dimitri grabbed Jim by the shoulders, and pulled him to a dead end corner. Both cabin boys using the few seconds to catch their breath, Jim powered up his pistol, while Dimitri took brass knuckles from a hidden vest pocket. As soon as both boys were armed and ready, they came out of hiding and faced a startled Scroop.

When the lights came off.

"Whoops!" B.E.N. blinked, his green eyes the only thing shining through the pitch black room. "Okay, don't panic. Breathing in," he took a breath, and released it heavily, "...breathing out."

The lights came back on. Jim and Dimitri blinked wide eyes at the, now, empty space in front of them. They looked behind them and still, nothing. They frowned as the looked around. Dimitri felt the hair at the back of his neck rose, urging him to look up. As he did, he barely had time to bring his arms up as Scroop for the attack. Jim turned his head to see Dimitri managing to throw a jab or two to Scroop's face, dislocating his jaw. The younger brunette pointed his pistol to the alien when Dimitri got knocked down, but Scroop was quick enough to shove Jim off his feet to.

When the brunette hit the ground, he lost hold of his pistol. As he reaches for it, Scroop is on him at the next second. Dimitri recovers from where he had fallen and gets behind the alien, having his arms around him in a headlock. But Scroop easily pulls him off and over to a scaffolding ledge.

B.E.N. held another plug, "This has gotta be cannons." He pulled it out when the whole ship rumbled and suddenly, he and every other detached thing in the room started floating. "Maybe not." 

Jim yelped as he was suddenly lifted off the ground, and not by Scroop either. And instead of falling further, Dimitri hovered on the air and they all started ascending. Scroop roared as Jim kicked him away, causing the alien to break through a roof window and outside. Jim went through it as well as Dimitri hit the ceiling instead of floating out with them.

The brunette flailed as he tried to get his bearings, all the while Scroop managed to grab a rope and hang on to the mast while Jim continued floating. Alarmed as he got near the alien, the brunette tried to hover away only for the alien to do it for him, swiping towards Jim. Instead of capturing him, the alien only managed to hasten the brunette's ascent. Jim hit his back on the look out tower, and he would've floated further up to space if he hadn't grabbed on the flag in time. 

Before Jim could catch a moment and feel relieved, he sees Scroop climbing up towards him, a menacing grin on his lips. The brunette catches a glimpse of his pistol hovering toward space and he makes a desperate reach for it only to miss it completely. 

"No!" Jim cried in dismay, chancing a look down as he sees Scroop just below him.

The alien snickers as he holds out his claw near the rope attached to the flag, "Oh, yes." he started cutting through the rope, "Do say hello to Mr. Aster..."

Panicked, Jim pulled on the flag quickly to bring him towards the wooden mast and he grabs hold of it instead. Scroop, seeing this, ceases his current action to growl at the brunette. He cries out as he jumped towards him.

"Tell him yourself!" Instinctively, Jim leaps over him and pushes him towards the flag.

Scroop grunted as he struggled out of the clothe, his effort straining the previously abused rope, causing it to snap entirely. By the time the alien manages to tear a hole through the flag, he was already floating towards open space, with Jim safely hanging onto the mass to keep from sharing the same fate. All Scroop can do was scream in denial, as the sound slowly started to fade the farther he got.

Until all that's left was silence.

"Jim!"

The brunette startled, looking down and sees that Dimitri was making his way up now, holding on to a rope, "DIMITRI?!"

"Your hand, Jim," Dimitri reaches up for him, his eyes shining with worry. "Come on, I got you!"

Jim nodded as he carefully started to make his way down, only to yelp as his panicked, sweaty hands slipped on the wood and he screams for his friend.

"No, DIMITRI!"

Heart jumping to his throat, Dimitri lets go of the rope and dives for Jim. He manages to catch him by the arm, but the two of them continued to ascend towards space. Their wide eyes find each other, and Dimitri's heart breaks, wishing more than anything he could do something about the fear in Jim's eyes.

"BACK YOU GO YOU NAUGHTY PLUG!" B.E.N. screeched as he air-swam towards the cabinet and managed to shove the wire back in place, dropping to the ground instantly. "Ack!"

Dimitri fell back to the look out tower, managing to land on his feet. He looked up just in time to catch Jim in his arms. Dimitri dropped Jim to his own feet before wrapping him in a tight hug. The younger boy returned it with a fierce embrace. The taller of the two rubbed comforting circles behind his friend's back in an attempt to console him. When they were finally calm enough to pull back, they realized their current position but could do nothing but gaze upon each other's eyes.

The moment is broken by the morph who appeared from a communication pipe.

"Pooka?" 

Dimitri stared at his pet before hearing the sounds of foot steps and whirring sounds. When they look down, they see the robot returning to the deck, covered in a couple of wires.

"Laser cannons disconnected Captain Jimmy, sir!" The robot panted, before leaning heavily against a piece of wood. "Gee, that wasn't so tough."

Jim reached for his pocket to make sure the map hadn't floated off itself, and when he found it still there, he breathed out a sigh of relief. He stilled when someone touched him but relaxed since it had been Dimitri, just offering one more consoling squeeze, though not saying anything. They both knew they needed to discuss that little confession Dimitri gave Jim. 

But that could wait until they've got no one to worry about killing them.

───────

Later, they returned to the planet, making sure to park the longboat a few ways off from the pirates' camp, and nearer to the back door. The three plus a morph went through once more, before making their way back to the shelter. Jim got in first, pulling Dimitri up after him then leaving him to help B.E.N. up. The young brunette made his way towards the dark, slumbering silhouette.

"Hey Hiccup, Hic, wake up!" Jim said earnestly, pulling the map out of his pocket. "I got the map."

A hand reached for the orb, but it wasn't Hiccup's or Jack's, "Fine work, lad." Drago sneered, a cruel smirk on his lips, as his hands held on to the sphere tightly. "Fine work indeed."

Jim widened his eyes as he stepped back from the man, he hears muffled yelling and turns to see Jack and Hiccup in ropes, gagged. 

"Jim, look out! Ahng!"

The brunette cried out as he was lifted off the ground by Alvin. His face falls as he sees the rest of the pirates, minus a missing Mildew, crowded around Dimitri and started throwing jabs and punches. Pooka tried to help him, but they subdued her and B.E.N., Randall tying up the robot and grabbing for the glob. Dimitri fought back as much as he could, but he was obviously unevenly matched.

"Stop it! Stop it, you damn scoundrels!" Jim pleaded, kicking at his legs to break free of Alvin. "Dimitri!"

The robot and morph were cornered beside the captain and explorer. With a bruised eye and broken lip, Dimitri was pulled off the ground and held between Eret and Dagur.

Drago held the map in one hand, and his sword in another. He cocked his head towards Alvin, and the man walked towards the man, Jim still at his hold. His heart leapt to his throat when the sharp end of the blade was held against Dimitri's neck, as Drago kept his focus on Jim entirely.

"Now, my boy, are you gonna cooperate?" The man growled, holding the map in between them as Jim glared steadily at him, "I'd get busy, if I were you..." Drago tipped his head towards Randall and the twins, and the twins responded by pointing their rifles to Hiccup and Jack's forehead respectively as Randall held them in place. "Or else, they're the first to go, and you don't wanna know how I'm planning to break you if you refuse me one more time..."

Jim glowered, even as fear clenched his heart. But as it had been established, he was smart. He knew that they were sorely disadvantaged now. He reluctantly nodded towards the man, and Drago gave the order for him to be let down. Jim took the map from him, and with a defeated sigh, started to work through the sphere.

In no time at all, the orb released a familiar green, holographic light, forming the planet they were currently it on. All pirates present marveled at the sight. 

"See?" Drago grinned smugly, "wasn't that hard, was it?" He held Jim's shoulder, moving his finger and running it over Jim's exposed shoulder blade. The brunette recoiled, glaring at the man in disgust. Drago simply laughed, too proud to be put off. He stared at the holographic images as he started to dissolve and formed a land, leading somewhere— possibly the treasure. "Hahahaha! Guess we don't need those damn brats anym—what?"

Jim deactivated the map, "You want me to show you the way?" He started, keeping his glare leveled towards Drago. "keep them alive. And I'll go with you."

"Jim, no!" Dimitri protested, struggling against Dagur and Eret. "you're not going anywhere with him!"

Drago grunted, shaking his head in exasperation as he scowled at the two cabin boys. He shakes his head, in part frustration, but also mildly impressed that the young brunette was still fighting back. Still, the man really hated to lose in a bargain. And he's not risking any more surprise attacks.

"We'll take 'em all."


	11. "Just open the right door"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going into the center

They went out to the longboat, with Drago taking the lead with vice grip on Jim's arm as the map continued to show the way. Color drains from the brunette's face when he noticed the frail, crumpled body of Mildew to the side, and bleeding out from several burnt holes. He felt bile rise to his throat as he looked away and Dimitri frowned in worry, only to grunt at the pirates pushing him forward. They all boarded the boat, and followed the green light.

Dimitri scowled, trapped between Drago and the two sailors that kept him in check as Jim was trapped dead front with the brutal pirate captain. The two older men, still tied up behind them but now free of their gags, with the other sailors, frowned in worry. The explorer worried his lip, fearing for all their lives, but mostly Jim's... and maybe Jack's as well.

"Agh!" Dimitri raised his head in alarmed, as Jim made a frustrated sound upfront. "Keep your hands to yourself, you dastardly creep!"

Drago huffed irately, "I'm really starting to grow tired of your defiance, brat." He growled, continuing his ministrations, working his way down Jim's pants and rear. "Maybe I should show you how to be more submissive."

Jim whimpered, fighting back tears of rage and fear, "Stop... it...!"

"Bastard!" Dimitri growled, renewing his struggles to move forwards only to be kept at boy by Eret and Dagur. But even he looked repulsed, Dagur looked mostly curious though. "You damn better keep your hands off him, or I'll—!"

Eret interrupted, "Cluster of acres straight ahead!" He called out, signalling to Ruffnut. "Cut the engine."

The female twin did as she was told. They reached a point where it'd be impossible to follow the green light with the boat. Drago ordered Dagur to stay on the ship with Hiccup and Jack. He took along Jim, of course, along with the robot. He figured it would do him good to split their group up, having both a leverage against the map holder in the form of Dimitri, and an incentive not to try any tricks by keeping the explorer and captain away. Finally, in his eagerness, Drago trudged ahead, leaving Jim to follow behind him. As soon as that happened, B.E.N. and Dimitri closed in.

Pooka snuggled against his cheek, noticeably trembling.

"It's okay, Pooka." Jim placated, patting the tiny glob soothingly, "It's okay..." He repeated, mostly trying to convince himself as well.

Dimitri sighed as he stood beside him, nudging him a bit. "Yeah, but are you okay?" He huffed. "Because I seriously wanted to punch him to the next galaxy. Actually... Still do. Maybe into a black hole, if possible."

Jim managed a small smile, appreciative of the man's frustration on for his sake.

"Say, Jimmy," B.E.N. started as he stepped in as well, "you, uh, getting another one of your good plans? Because, uh, I'm starting to see my life pass in front of my eyes." the robot stammered, "At least, I think it's my life. Was I ever dancing with an android named Lupe?!"

Both Dimitri and Jim jolted at the particularly loud exclamation, immediately shushing him as the pirates behind glared at them to get a move on, and Drago looked back momentarily with a scowl. 

"B.E.N., don't write us off yet." Jim said quietly, giving him a stern look. "This isn't over, not by a long shot."

They continued on their way, and as they did, they can see how the blinking of the green light became more prominent. Drago grinned in anticipation, "We're gettin' close, men. The loot is but a berth away!" He grabbed Jim by the front of his shirt and started ahead, dragging the boy with him. 

Jim scowled as he tried to pull free, Dimitri, B.E.N. and Pooka close behind him. As Drago cut his sword through the thicket of vegetation, the rest of the crew cheered and bumped fists as they followed behind... Only to see the green light leading them towards a dead end, in the form of a steep cliff. And the map locked into itself automatically.

Jim frowned as he tried to get it going again.

"Where is it?!" 

Eret groused, "I see nothing!" he threw his hands in the air. "Went renegade for one great, big bloody gunk of nothing!" 

"Mark me..." Drago glowered, turning towards Jim who was still working on the sphere. Dimitri stepped in front of him protectively, but the man easily shoved him roughly away. "don't you be playing tricks now, lad!"

"I'm not!" Jim protested, his voice on the edge, "Honest! I just— I really can't get it open."

Tuffnut huffed, stepping forward and shoving the brunette down roughly, "We should've never followed this guy!"

"Hey!" Jim yelped as his face practically hit the ground, and Drago added a kick of his own. He groaned, curling into himself. "Ack!"

Dimitri got up to get to him, "Hey! Lay off hi—" he trailed off as Eret intercepted him, Randall doing the same for the robot and glob. "Let go off me, you damn gits!"

"I'd suggest you get that sphere going again," Drago glowered, holding up his sword as he towered over the brunette, "Or start saying prayers to the Valkyries..."

Jim huffed, his eyes pinched shut in pain. He took a calming breath before opening his eyes, and he takes note of the familiar pattern on the ground. Like the ones on the shelter... And on the map. He frowned, patting away at the dirt, unmindful to Drago and his sword's threatening form just above him

"Jimmy! No, don't touch him!"

"Drago please," Dimitri followed up with his own plea, "you don't want to do that!"

"Don't I?"

Jim places the the map into the vacant recess, and no sooner than he did, green lights lit up from the ground in an intrinsic pattern and spreads throughout the metallic floor. The pirates balked, backing away. Then, a holographic globe ascended from the map was placed. Jim and Dimitri stepped forward to examine it. Before they can reach for it, though, the rumbling sound continued and then green lights from below the cliff came up, before forming a vertical line on thin air. It spreads out, before settling into a triangular formation.

And a clear image was displayed in front of them.

"Great Odin..."

Jim blinked, staring wide eyed at the display. "The Burgessian Nebula?"

Dimitri shook his head, furrowing his brows, with a hand to his chin, "But that's..." He frowned, "halfway across the galaxy."

Jim stepped closer once more, studying the holographic globe and display in front of it. Finally, he starts reaching an epiphany. "A big door..." He muttered, pressing a random icon on the globe, "...opening and closing." he hummed, thoughtful. He got a vague idea now, but he needed to confirm it. He searched the globe, for something to test his theory, "Let's see... Nightlight cross...." He grinned, finding something very familiar to him, "Montressor spaceport."

He clicked on the familiar symbol, of a half moon, and no sooner than he did, the display upfront closed to reveal Tsar Lunar's _Crescentia _when it opened again. 

"So, that's how Flint did it." Jim said with a wide grin, looking towards Dimitri happily, "He used this portal to roam the universe stealing treasure!"

Drago glowered, moving forward and knocked Jim back into Dimitri's arms, "But where'd he stash it all?!" He demanded as he tried the globe himself, the brunettes glaring at him as he did so. "Where's that blasted treasure?!"

B.E.N. jolted from where he stood in front of the lesser pirates and behind his friends, "Treasure! Treasure!" He groaned, holding onto his head. Jim frowned in worry, but suddenly thought back to their first meeting. "It's buried in the—!"

"— Buried in the centroid of the mechanism." Jim finished the train of thought, looking towards his friend, "Dimitri!"

The taller boy blinked, partly startled with the sudden outburst. "What's up, Jim?"

"That... This...." Jim paused, trying to collect his thoughts properly, "What if the whole planet is the mechanism?!" he implied excitedly, "And the treasure is buried in the center of this planet?"

The lesser pirates stared at the brunette, one another, before dropping to the ground and started shoveling through only to be stopped by the fact the ground was, indeed, metal.

"And how in the name of Loki are we supposed to get there?!"

Jim pushed away Dimitri, and shoved passed Drago to get to the globe. "Just open the right door." He said, finding the current Planet they were on.

And the portal revealed an area that seemed indoors, rather than out. Gingerly, Jim stepped ahead, reaching forward through the portal. Dimitri swallowed thickly and followed him, with Drago taking a step along with him. Unbeknownst to the man, he was stepping passed a red, laser light; a vague alarm started beeping, its sound drowned out by the roaring of the fire blasts. The rest of the group hastily followed the three after they got over the shock.

Only to stop short once more, after getting further in, due to speechless awe. Then, they broke into cheers, even Drago managed a grin. Jim and Dimitri blinked, sharing a look as if to check if they were seeing the same thing, before looking ahead once more.

To the loot of a thousand worlds.


	12. "Not the real treasure, Jim"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding the real treasure

"We are going to need a bigger boat!" 

Eret laughed as he rushed forward, along with the rest of the pirates. Drago didn't have it in him to yell at them for going ahead of him without orders. In their eager haste, though, they neglected their captives.

"This is all seeming very familiar..." B.E.N. mused with a frown, "But I... I can't remember why."

Dimitri hummed in sympathy, till he realized their situation and lack of guard dogs. "B.E.N., Jim, come on." He muttered quietly, slowly taking steps back. "Now's our chance. We're getting out of here; the three of us can take Dagur, then..."

"No," Jim immediately countered, to Dimitri's surprise. "We're not leaving empty-handed."

The man gawked at him, shaking his head impatiently, "Fine, fine. You got the inn to fix, fair point." he conceded and surrendered, "But then grab a handful and let's go." Dimitri insisted, scooping some up himself.

"No, I mean, look." Jim pushed the man's head to look at a certain direction, "There's a boat load of it."

Dimitri blinked, seeing what his friend meant. "Okay, that works, too." He takes Jim's hand and beckoned B.E.N. to follow. "Come on, quickly. While they're distracted." 

"But— but, guys!" The robot stumbled after them with Pooka, "Wait, I—!" He gave up momentarily, focusing on catching up with the two. When they were in earshot again, he reaches for Jim's helping hand, as be continued. "Do you know what's strange? I can't tell you how frustrating this is, Jimmy," he said as Jim heaved him up, "'cause there's something just— it's nagging at the back of my mind— Ack!" The robot cries out as Jim dropped him, in favor of staring at what Dimitri was gawking at as well.

"Is it—?"

Dimitri nodded, still wide-eyed, "Captain Flint. Definitely."

"In the flesh!" B.E.N. gushed, influenced by the humans' awe, till he realized what's in front of him. "Well, s-sort of, except for skin, organs... or anything that, that, that resembles flesh... that's not there..."

Dimitri scrunched up his nose, as Pooka examined it carefully. "Years haven't been kind to him, it seemed." He quipped as he set about repairing the ship. "Pooka, come here girl. Give me a hand with this, a wrench or something..."

Jim shook his head at the previous remark, moving closer to examine the skeleton. It was an odd posture to be left dying on. He continued scrutinizing the thing while B.E.N. rambled on.

"It's so odd. you know?" The robot fretted, "I remember there was something horrible Flint didn't want anyone else to know but — I just can't remember what it was..."

Jim blinked as he sees something mechanical in Flint's phalanges. By the looks of it, even in death, he had been gripping on to it tightly, as if his dying wish was to make sure no one got it from him. The brunette reached for it, and broke it free. He scrutinized it, finding its odd shape and exterior coating familiar. Then, he realized what it was as he listened to the end of B.E.N.'s ramblings, finishing with broken sobs, and Jim looked towards him to see the exposed wires.

"— Oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!"

Jim grinned, making his way towards the robot. "B.E.N., I think I just found your mind." he said, steadying the robot, "Hold still."

"Ah!" B.E.N. cried out, surprised with the sudden contact, "Jimmy, your hands are very, very cold back the—"

The brunette held the thing near the wires, puzzling over how to attach it. He yelped as the wires took it from him itself. B.E.N. exclaimed in shock once more, and Jim grinned as his mechanical friend started to '_reboot_'.

"Whoa! Hello." B.E.N. blinked, his previously green led light eyes changing to blue, "You know, uh, Jimmy, I was just thinking... I was just think—" the robot paused as Jim's grin got wider, thrilled for the robot. He didn't even mind when B.E.N. grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, "It's all flooding back! All my memories!" The brunette laughed as the robot cheered.

Dimitri raised a brow, as he walked towards them. "Uh, having fun there guys?" He quipped. "Jim, can you—"

"Right up until Flint pulled my memory circuits," B.E.N. interrupted, "so I could never tell anybody about his booby trap!" He finished, and jolted at the sound of a booming crash, and the brunettes looked up at the same time he did. "Speaking of which..."

The pirates raised their hands in alarm as well, as they finally noticed the blazing, fiery thrusters weren't simply for display. It sounded like a machine coming alive, overheating and ready to erupt.

"Flint wanted to make sure that nobody could ever steal his treasure," B.E.N. continued to explain, finally understanding his recent foreboding. "so he rigged this whole planet to blow higher than a Coronian kite!"

Jim and Dimitri could only watch in horror as the blazing flames started to beam through the treasure, and the ground opened up beneath it, having the vast, infinite, loot to spill over the edge. The pirates started to panic as they realize what was going on.

"Run, Jimmy! Run for your life!"

Jim shook his head, pulling Dimitri back further into the boat. "What?"

"What?" 

"The thing!" Jim grumbled impatiently, "you were asking something earlie—"

"Right! Wires!" Dimitri nodded, pulling the brunette towards the place he was working on earlier, "I need you to hotwire the ship. Got most of the other controls going, just—"

Jim didn't wait to finish as he got to work, briefly taking time to look towards B.E.N., "You go back and help the captain and Hiccup!" He ordered as he went under, "If we're not there in five minutes, leave without us."

"I am not leaving my buddy, Jimmy." The robot huffed, crossing his arms adamantly. Dimitri threw a glare at his way though, "Unless you look at me like that.... Bye, guys!" The robot ran off.

Drago glowered as he tried to save the doubloons that he could, "No! No! Confound it all!" He sneered, he hears the cries of his crew men, as Alvin and Randall fell off over an edge, and the rest of them made a beeline towards the exit. "Come back here, ya spineless cowards!" He huffed irately as the pirates disregarded him, whether if that was due to intentional insubordination or being away from earshot, didn't matter to the man. Then, he heard a distinct rumbling unlike the ones currently going around, and he looked towards did.

He sees a ship full of treasure, and two familiar brunettes on it.

───────

Still tied up and at Dagur's gun point at the longboat, back to back against each other, Hiccup and Jack looked up at the sound of rumbling. They suspected bad weather was coming. The brunette sighed, expecting it to go well with the current mood right now. Jack frowned, trying to turn towards him as much as he can. 

"Hey," Jack started quietly, nudging the other slightly, "you doing fine?"

Hiccup shook his head slightly, "All my life, I dreamed of an adventure like this." He takes a breath, thinking if Aster was alive, he'd be a better help than he was. Even when he first fired a pistol, it had been a lucky shot. "I'm just sorry I couldn't have contributed more, and be more helpful to you."

"Shut it, you fishbone." Jack said with a huff, nudging the man, "don't be stupid. You've financed this whole thing, treated my wounds, and you were there for me when my brother..." The captain trailed off, choking up a bit. He cleared his throat to compose himself, "Point is, you've been very helpful."

Hiccup laughed without humor, shaking his head. "Then why do I feel like such a useless weakling?"

"You—" Jack was interrupted by an outcry from Dagur.

When the captives looked up, they see the pirate growling and rubbing at his head. He turned away from them at last, looking out to something unseen. Hiccup blinked, realizing an opportune moment. He started biting down on the ropes bounding his wrists, and immediately loosened them and he went on to help Jack, who can still hardly move well due to the injuries he sustained.

"All right, who threw that?!" He demanded, pointing a gun towards wherever. "Show yourself!" Dagur demanded before yelping as he was pushed off the boat, losing hold of his pistol.

Hiccup quickly grabbed it, and immediately pointed it towards the sailor. "Oh, I'm sorry," he smirked, "was this yours?"

"Aw, see that?" Jack grinned proudly beside him, giving him a nudge, "told you, you are helpful."

Hiccup beamed at the captain, before suddenly realizing their close proximity. Jack noticed the same thing. He simply smiled, though, leaning in. The brunette, encouraged, followed suit. Interrupted once more by Dagur's outcry and Hiccup yelped as something hit his head. A startled gasp escape Jack's lips.

"All right, ya damn love birds, save it for the honeymoon." Aster groused, having Dagur in a headlock, and behind him, the twins and Eret were tied up, and B.E.N. stood to the side. "we're on a tight schedule here; the anklebiters need assistance. Come on, I got the legacy ready."

"Aster!" Jack cried out, grinning as tears brimmed up his eyelids and he carefully flew over, mindful of his wounds. "You're alive!" He cheered all the while throwing himself at his brother's arms.

Meanwhile, Hiccup jumped down to join them. "How? The blackhole—" he trailed off as Aster held out his pendant, the missing charm from the cord. He popped the egg shell open, but it was empty.

"The Tsar gave me a charm and I placed it in here. Manny said something might come up in this voyage and I'll know when to use it." Aster explained, "I got transported to the nearest planet, had no bloody idea it was the one we've set voyage too."

Jack laughed, pulling away from his brother. "Good ol' Man in Moon!" he smiled, "Now, you said something about a deadline?"

"Yes, got to get to Jimmy soon!" B.E.N. stepped up, still in a frenzy, "THIS WHOLE PLANET'S ABOUT TO EXPLODE!"

Jack and Hiccup gawked at the robot, "WHAT!"

"See? Tight schedule. Let's hop to it!"

───────

Jim grinned as he held onto the steering wheel, turning it towards the exit, Pooka cheering beside him. "Yes! Guys, we are so out of here!" 

Dimitri laughing in amusement, more than contented in letting the brunette drive if it makes him this happy. But before he could make a remark of his own, he hears someone board the ship. He barely had a chance to take a look before instinctively moving away, and out of range from Drago's spear. Jim startled, keeping his hands on the wheel as he sees the commotion. The brunette growled, grabbing for the nearest item for a weapon which, thankfully, was an old sword.

"Damn it, old man, you just don't know when to give up!" Dimitri glowered, holding the weapon in front of him defensively.

Drago lunged with his spear, "I could say the same about ye, lad." He growled, swiping at Dimitri, and then aiming lower. The brunette jumped to dodge the jab, loosing his footing.

"Dimitri!" Jim cried out in panic, rushing forward. Drago swung towards him instinctively, but the boy managed to dodge and go for the handle protruding from the sheath. The man kicked him in retaliation, but while this helped in pushing him off, it also made it easier for Jim to take the weapon. "Get back!" The brunette hissed, shakily pointing the blade towards him.

Dimitri rolled over from his position to stand by Jim, his own weapon held in front. The man grumbled as he got back his bearings, and lunged towards them once more. Jim clumsily pushed it away with the butt of his blade, only for Dimitri to follow by slicing through the wood. He grabbed one half of it, and swung it towards Drago's head and managed to land a solid hit. The man roared in frustration, as he took the stick back and pulled on it, forcing Dimitri to him and giving the boy a rough headbutt. Dimitri fell back, dazed from the attack. Jim stood over him, while taking the other end of the stick with the bladed point and snapping it in half further. He held up his sword towards the man, glaring up at him defiantly. He felt a sense of déjà vu, recalling there first encounter with Drago all those years ago. This time, though, Jim was standing his ground, refusing to abandon Dimitri, like he had done before.

The man just had about enough.

"I like ya lads, you'd make fine pets, ya would." Drago growled, approaching the cornered brunettes, "but I care far much more of the treasure to let ya come between me and the loot."

Jim stood in place, his scowl firm in place, but deep inside, he didn't know how to deal with the man if he got any closer. Dimitri was still trying to collect himself, but even so, the two weren't enough to overpower the large brute. Suddenly, a moving laser beamed down on the ship, jolting the occupants off their feet.

"Aah!"

They stumbled across the deck, and out of the boat, but Dimitri managed to grab on a shroud while the other two tumbled down the platform, and off the edge. Luckily, Jim managed to grab on to a receding mechanism to stop his fall. Drago grabbing on to one below him. The man growled, trying to climb back up, reaching for the teenager. But Jim wasn't going to make it easy for him, especially after all the bastard put him and Dimitri through.

Finally, someone had the upper hand against the cruel, brutal, man.

"This is for Dimitri!" Jim growled, his eyes flashing with repressed rage as he stomped down on the man's face repeatedly he growled in response. "This is for my family! And this, this is for you," the brunette hissed, struggling to free his foot as Drago snarled, grabbing for his leg one more time to support himself. "Pray to the Valkyries, you bastard!" Jim got his foot free and finally managed a decent kick. 

Drago cried out, unable to dodge it and it led to him plummeting down to his a fiery death. Unfortunately, after the struggle, Jim lost one of his hand hold and was left with one. He cried out. Meanwhile, Dimitri was struggling with the ship, trying to pull on the shroud, onto the platform and out of range of the laser fire when Pooka got on his face in a frenzy state.

"What?" Dimitri huffed, before Pooka pushed his face towards where Jim hang precariously off the wall. "Jim!" He found a rope, a previous lifeline maybe, detached from the shrouds. He held on to it as he made his way towards the edge, but it fell slightly short. He tried to pull at it, inching the boat away as much as he could as he reached for Jim. "Jim, over here!" Dimitri cried out as Pooka flew over to get his attention. The brunette turned his attention to the glob and followed its gesture. He sees his friend with his arm extended towards him. "Reach for me now!" Jim huffed as he strained to hang on all the while extending his other arm towards Dimitri. "Reach!"

It still fell short. "I— I can't!" Jim gasped out, desperation written all over his eyes. He cried out as the handhold receded completely, and he fell further, barely managing to hang on to another one. "No... No..." He whimpered, trying to hang on even as he saw the futility of it. 

Dimitri bit his lower lip, in a frenzy panic as Jim was too low for him to reach. Unless he can find a longer rope... His eyes widened in realization. "Pooka!" He glowered at the morph frantically, "Quick! Cut the rope and hold on to it!"

The gray glob blinked but immediately moved to follow, transforming into a knife to do as she was told. As soon as she did, Dimitri gripped the other end as he rushed towards the edge. Realizing the plan, Pooka morphed into a hand next and held on tight to the her end of the rope. Dimitri managed to reached Jim in time as the handhold slipped away once more. The man held on to Jim tightly, as the young teenager wrapped his arms around the other's waist, breathing heavily. Pooka struggled to pull the brunettes up, and as soon as they neared the ledge, Dimitri helped by climbing up himself, supporting Jim as he did the same, the brunette smiling at the two gratefully.

"If we live through this, remind me to—" Jim trailed off as his eyes widened. 

Dimitri frowned, following the direction of his eyes as he balked, seeing the boat load of gold floating towards the beaming down laser fire, until it exploded into flames of destruction. Dimitri reached for Jim, shielding him from the carnage.

"Thank me later," The cabin boy gasped, pulling both of them up and gesturing for Pooka to follow, "for now, run!"

Dimitri practically dragged Jim after him, and it was all the brunette could do to keep pace with the man. He grabbed on to the Morph, to make sure she wouldn't get hit by any stray wood and be left behind. The floor had been receding from the portal as well when they came by, and the boys barely reacted fast enough to leap over it and out through the portal.

"Dimitri," Jim gasped as he released Pooka, who went to rub against Dimitri. He paused to catch his breath, "you gave up the—"

Dimitri forestalled, gently pushing Pooka away. "Wasn't the real Treasure," he said, standing directly in front of the shorter brunette. "Definitely not the real treasure, Jim..." He breathed, reaching for his face.

Jim blushed, but manage a happy smile. His eyes widened when he notice Dimitri closing his eyes, and leaned in closer. But he found that he let him. Then, a sudden gust of wind interrupted what could've happened. The brunettes startled away from each other. 

"Ahoy, Jimmy!" They looked up to see the legacy hovering beside them. "Hurry, people! We got exactly two minutes and thirty-four seconds till planet's destruction!"

Jim and Dimitri widened their eyes before making their way towards the ship, Pooka already way up ahead of them. Jack frowned as he sees the rattled explorer still at a lost on how to navigate the ship. Aster was still below at the brig, incarcerating the remaining pirates. Plus, after the fight he had against them, the man's wasn't in all that good a condition to be moving about as much.

"You'll do fine, Hic." The captain called out. "you ride a dragon, for Thor's sake. This should be a breeze."

"_This_," Hiccup cried out pointedly, "is entirely different!"

"Just ease her over gently—" Jack rolled his eyes, until he bucked forward violently as the legacy collided with the piece of broken, mechanical land the brunettes stood on. The captain barely steadied himself with his hand in time. He moaned, his injuries disturbed. "I said gently!"

"You are _not_ helping!"

Dimitri cupped his hands and boosted Jim up before the young teenager reached down to help him as well. Aster came back at that moment, much to both boys' evident surprise, and assisted Dimitri's boarding. The bunny man gave the all clear, and Jack turned towards B.E.N. stationed at the accelerator levers.

"Take us out of here, metal man!"

B.E.N. gave him a salute before doing as he was told, "Aye, Captain!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what I was writing in the fight scene. If it didn't make sense, this is why.


	13. Announcement

**I am sorry for anyone who got hyped for nothing, but worry not! I promise a real update is coming soon. And this whole thing will end on this month.**


	14. "Someone special"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So close to the end of a journey

"Sir Aster, it's good to see you well!" Dimitri started, "though that may be an understatement."

Jim quickly followed up beside him, "You're alive!" He declared, "Holy Freyja... I'm so sorry for that night! If I just..."

"Gonna stop you right there, anklebiter." The bunny man held a finger up, "Jack told me about what happened after all that, and lemme just put it out there, you did all right with the lifeline. That spider bastard's to blame. So ya did good that time, aye?" Jim had nothing to say, so he simply nodded. "However, if ya feel that wrung up about it, you can make it up by telling me the intentions your explorer chaperon has with my brother."

Dimitri and Jim stared at him, "Wait, what?" Jim balked, "You have a brother here?"

"Hiccup likes Jack?" Dimitri followed up.

Jim balked once more, "Again, what?!" he exclaimed, "how do you even know about that?"

"I make it my business to know about people I'm working for, even temporal arrangements." Dimitri shrugged, "One of the other reasons Drago kept me alive and well fed despite the countless times I tried escaping."

Jim snorted, "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"To be fair," Dimitri blushed, "I... was thinking of other more important things... lately."

Jim turned red as well, "Oh."

"Hit the deck!"

Aster fell forward and pushed the two brunettes to the floorboards. A stray blast from the ongoing combustions around the planet collided with some part of the ship, and an engine of sorts along with stray wood crash landed on deck. Aster helped the boys on their feet while B.E.N. calculated some numbers while looking at a panel.

"Missile tail demobilized, Captain!" The robot reported as he typed on something on his detached chest piece. "Thrusters at only 30% of capacity."

Hiccup widened his eyes, doing the math in his head and considering the odds, "Thirty percent? That means we're—" his face fell as he turned towards Jack, all the while keeping his hands on the wheel even as it might be in vain. "We'll never clear the planet's explosion in time."

Jack frowned, trying to consider what could be done. Meanwhile, Jim was doing the same thing. He looked back from where they came from, and sees the holographic globe still remained unscathed. Then, his eyes fell to the fallen engine. Suddenly, he felt dread and determination rise up his chest all at once.

"We gotta turn around."

"What?!"

Jim was already running towards the engine and stray wood, "There's a portal back there. It can get us out of here!"

"Given the circumstances, maybe I should be more welcoming of any ideas," Hiccup started as he tried to keep his eyes up ahead and prevent from veering off too much, "but did you forget that the portal's a raging inferno?!"

Jim huffed as he turned the engine over, "Yes, but I'm gonna change that." he said, "I'm gonna open a different door."

"Another—" Dimitri looked behind, barely catching the green light glowing from the distance in front of the portal. eyes widened in realization, "Jim, you're a genius!" He rushed towards him to help.

Jim snorted, sparing a moment to give him a smirk. "Wouldn't hurt to say it more often."

"Jim, really, I don't see how this is possible—"

Jack cuts him off, "Given our situation, Hic, just roll with it." He said. "right now, it's the only chance we got."

"One minute, twenty-nine seconds till planet's destruction!"

"Thank you robot," Jack deadpanned, "for reiterating that."

Dimitri hovered over the working brunette, "What do you need, pup?"

"Just some way" Jim huffed, reaching for a rope but scowling at it sceptically, "to attach this."

Dimitri looked around, before spotting the hilt of Hiccup's sword poking out of his satchel. He rushed towards it, bringing it back to Jim. "All right, stand back." he flicked the switch, and a pillar of flames sprung up. "Stand back, now."

Jim did so and Dimitri got to work with welding the engine into the steel flat debris. When he was done, he gave it a once over and checked if it was sturdy before heaving it up, Pooka doing the same underneath it. 

"There you go." Dimitri huffed, as he set in steadily on the edge of the ship.

Pooka chimed in, floating beside Dimitri. "_There you go._"

"Thanks guys," Jim climbed up onto it, with Dimitri keeping it steady as his friend settled himself on top until he got his balance. Then, he backed away a bit, while Jim looked at him sternly, "Okay. Now, no matter what happens, keep the ship heading straight for that portal."

Dimitri frowned a bit, "Yeah, I really don't like the sound of that '_No matter what happens_', pup." he complained, "maybe I should come..."

"Fifty-eight seconds!"

Jim frowned, having it only just realized that all the lives on the ship were dependent on him pulling this off. He stared into Dimitri's face, the boy's lips purse and eyes filled with worry. As much as he'd appreciate the presence, it would just slow him down, having two people on this makeshift solar board.

"I'll be back... Just trust me." Jim bit his own lip, before leaning forward quick for a chaste kiss and before blasting off.

Dimitri was too stunned to move for a moment, face heated up. He shook it off, and turned back to the rest of the passengers who was staring back at him. He blushed more of embarrassment this time.

"Well, you heard him!" Dimitri groused, "Get this damn thing turned around!"

Jack snapped out of it first, looking towards Hiccup. "Hic, head us back to the portal."

"Aye, Jack." Hiccup sighed, doing as he was told. "at the very least, I don't really want to return home without the Hawkins' kid."

Aster walked over and gave the explorer a good whack at the shoulder, "That ain't the brave face I want smacking up with my brother, mate." he huffed. "Get it together, toothpick."

Hiccup blushed and Jack chortled in response. 

Dimitri rolled his eyes, looking back towards the portal and Jim who was making his way towards it. He can see all those years that, Jim said, he had spent breaking rules and surfing on restricted areas had paid off at last. Jim was amazing, maneuvering the dangerous obstacles that got in his way. It was actually breathtaking for him to watch.

Then, Dimitri balked as he saw a series of blasts making its way towards Jim, starting small but seemingly growing in each sequence. And Jim didn't seem to notice it either, and even if he did, Dimitri had no idea how he could pull off getting out of it.

"Dimitri!" The brunette was startled out of his thoughts as he turned towards Jack, "Take my staff and fly after him, make sure what blasts you can keeps out of his way." he made a gesture to Aster he took the cue.

Dimitri widened his eyes, "I can't fly!"

"The staff will do the bloody work for you," Aster shoved it to his chest, "now go!"

Dimitri yelped as the bunny man was shoving him over board, "Whoa, whoa, wait! How about tutorial fir—Ahhh!"

"Aster!" Jack gawked, "did you just—!"

"Don't have much time for a learning session. Things are best learned on field, anyway." Aster shrugged.

At the next moment, Dimitri was soaring back up to the sky and, although shakily, made a beeline towards the blast behind Jim. It got the cue of the brunette's intentions to protect the other one, after all.

"See?"

"Twenty-five seconds!"

Jack sighed, shaking his head. Suddenly, he bucked forward at another uneasy jolt from the ship. He huffed, looking back towards Hiccup. "Steady! I said to be steady about it!"

"I know, I know!" Hiccup groused, barely sparing a glance to give the captain a heated glare which managed to give Jack a bit of a chill, despite the situation. "Will you just let me drive?!" he continued looking forward and focused on his driving.

Aster snorted, smirking in approval. "Now that, that face I approve of."

Meanwhile, Jim can sense that someone was behind him. Sparing a quick glance, he balked at the sight of Dimitri, flying behind him with a vice grip on Jack's staff and shooting at stray blasts around them.

"Dimitri?!"

The other brunette didn't take his eyes off his current task. "Eyes forward, pup." He managed out, "I'll be right behind you!"

Jim nodded and continued towards the portal. Then, his engine went out once more. Jim thought nothing off it, instinctively just pressing down on the peddle to start it up again.

Only this time, it didn't.

Jim widened his eyes as he looked down on the peddle, this time pressing down on it frantically to no avail. He panicked as he started to descend down a fiery corner. "No! No!" He cried out, "Dimitri!"

Having been done with the previous blast assaults, Dimitri turned at the sound of his name only to see Jim starting to fall. He gasped, willing the staff to go after him. But it seemed to refuse, not at all being agreeable with the hot temperature. His heart sank to his stomach.

"JIM!"

From the ship, the occupants of the ship could only watch in trepidation and horror.

"Seventeen seconds!"

Pooka whimpered as she covered her eyes.

Jim's eyes started to water, but dried instantly at the immense heat he was slowly descending to. He stared down in horror, in disbelief, that this was his final moments. He couldn't believe, that even when it mattered the most, he had failed. He failed his parents, not returning home like he said he would. He failed Hiccup, Jack, and Aster for not following through with his plan. He failed B.E.N., not being able to have him enjoy the return of his memory chip longer.

And he failed Dimitri. He never even got to respond to his feelings properly.

_No. _Jim scowled, suddenly determined. _I'm not going to let it end here._He looked to the metallic walls around him and had an idea. Determined, he maneuvered his board towards it, turning it over so that the engine grinds against the walls. He grunted, hanging on and hoping against hope. It got the desired effect and the engine started up again and he ascended back up to the relative safety above.

"Jim!"

Dimitri yelped as the solar surfer pulled him on-board before going right back towards the portal as the ship soared by at the same time. B.E.N. started the count down as the ship neared the portal still leading to an inferno as Jim and Dimitri made their way to the portal. Dimitri kept a grip on the staff and Jim as the younger brunette reached towards the green globe, eyes squinted to find any safer destination.

"Three...two..."

_Ping._

**────────────────────────────────────**

_**Crescentia Space Port** _

At the void of space, the portal opens and the Legacy goes through it along with Jim and Dimitri just as the planet behind them self destructed. Aster whooped and laughed as Pooka turned into fireworks in her celebration. Hiccup sagged against the wheel, relieved beyond belief. He yelped as he was pulled away from the wheel and into the arms of Jack who was laughing and practically trying to dance with him on air in his cheer. Even the captive pirates at the brig were can be heard cheering.

"Wow! Haha, yeah!"

Dimitri laughed at Jim's cheer, although he was practically doing the same thing. The makeshift board was starting to lose steam once more so he held Jim by the waist and used the staff to get them back to the ship. "You've done it, Jim!" He cheered, practically hugging the boy. "Didn't I say you had greatness in you?"

"I did it," Jim positively beamed, grinning widely at Dimitri as he supported himself by throwing his arm around Dimitri's neck. "I really did it this time, right?"

Dimitri smiled back at him proudly, "Yeah, I knew you could." He said.

The two brunettes finally made it back on the ship where the were immediately surrounded upon by the others. Dimitri chuckled as Pooka cuddled against his cheek, and B.E.N. embraced Jim, apologizing while doing so since he knew didn't like being touched. But he was surprised because Jim had returned the embrace. The robot all about cried... or leaked oil, in this case.

"It was a bit of a stretch, but good job making it work boys." Jack grinned, patting both at the back. "I'm sure Aster and I can do something about recommending you both to the interstellar academy."

Aster nodded, giving the brunettes light jabs on their shoulders each... well, light for him. The two were polite to hold back their winces. "They could definitely use fine blokes such as yourselves in their ranks."

"Yeah, and just wait until your parents hear about this!" Hiccup spoke up, grinning at Jim proudly. Then, he backtracks a bit. "Of course, we may downplay the exact details on how you got us out of the self-destructing planet... Might be even for the best not to mention that particular close call."

Jim chuckled, too happy to return that with a snarky retort. 

"And now for official business I don't really wanna do," Jack sighed, turning towards Dimitri. "I'm going to have to turn you in along with the others for a hearing, kid."

Jim balked but Dimitri didn't even look surprised by this. "Only seems fair, I guess." he held out his hands.

Jack called for his staff, which floated towards him. With a simple wave, a silver line bounded his hands together. Hiccup frowned. He didn't like it either, thinking it unfair as well, but Jack had a point. Then, Jim pushed forward between them. 

"Hang on, hang on, you can't do this!" Jim said earnestly, "Dimitri just helped us get out of that mess! You can't—!"

Jack sighed once more, "Like I said, I don't want to do it. I have to." he reiterated. "Like it or not, he was associated with Drago. Even if the guy's dead and it's all a moot point now, law still requires that we turn in accomplices. And there are papers filed that does indicate the names of the crew under Drago's name."

"Don't worry, anklebiter." Aster interjected at Jim's hard scowl, "it's a hearing, we're not letting Dimitri get sent off to the slammer. He'll be judged, just like the other pirates. With our testimonies, however, and the fact that he helped out in that daring escape we may be able to get him off on a lighter sentence."

Jim still didn't like it. When Jack had Aster take Dimitri down to the brig, Jim insisted to come with. The bunny man placed him in a different holding cell, away from the others, just so they can have some privacy before they dock in Crescentia.

"Hey, cheer up pup." Dimitri smirked, "It'll be over before you know it. Just keep an eye on Pooka until then, if you don't mind. That little morph, she's a free spirit you know."

Jim huffed, "You dimwit, you don't even have to ask that." he grumbled. "And why in Odin's name are you so calm about this?"

"Well, if you think about it, this can be the price I pay for keeping secrets from you."

"If it wasn't obvious, I forgave you for that." Jim grunted, "This is so unfair. It's not like you wanted to be under Drago's wing. And you've damn suffered enough already." he groused, looking down.

Dimitri shook his head, smiling softly at him. He reached for his face, despite the gap, and had Jim look at him. "You know, when l got on this boat I thought it would be just another one of Drago's schemes that I had no choice but to comply with. And it was, but then, it also got us to meet again." he told him. "And even if he didn't intend it, I can't help but feel grateful. I didn't realize it before till I was taken by him, but you were... No, you are still the best thing that ever happened to me, Jim. And I'm so happy I got to see you again."

"Don't sound like you're dying, dimwit." Jim groused, although his cheeks were red. "And you're not the only one grateful. I thought my life was a dead end. I mean, I guess at the back of my mind, I kind of knew it wasn't. I knew my parents still believed in me, and there's Hiccup too. But you taught me that l could chart my own course. That I even have a course..."

Dimitri chuckled, shaking his head. "Jim, you always did have one. Even right now, if can just look at yourself. You're glowing like a solar fire." he looked at Jim proudly, "You always had it in you. To me, you truly are someone special, Jim. You're gonna rattle the stars, you are."

"We'll rattle the stars," Jim added, pressing his hand over Dimitri's on his cheek, "You're a real dimwit if you think I'm moving forward without you this time."

Dimitri grinned, "Together, huh?" He chuckled, "I definitely like the sound of that."


	15. EPILOGUE: "Feels like Home"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some foreshadowing of plot points in the sequel

"A life sentence for Dimitri?!"

Jack sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well, for the lot of them, but I guess that's not the concern." He started, "It seemed that there are other charges that are coming into light, with Sandy's truth spell having them come clean of their other crimes. In Dimitri's case, considering he was abducted, the jury is debating whether the fact that Drago died during the expedition..."

"Dimitri's _NOT _ going to rot in any damn cell!" Jim snarled, getting up. "I swear on it!" He was not going to allow such a fate to befall the love of his life... 

> **Jim hit Dimitri at the side of his head, scowling, "_Don't you damn milk it, dimwit._" The brunette groused as he put his blazer on. "_And how do you even know how it happened when Jack first told me about the initial sentence? You weren't there. Simple and straight to the point, I told you._"**
> 
> **"_But pup, that doesn't really draw in the readers._" Dimitri clucked his tongue at his boyfriend, "_It's my job to give what the people want._"**
> 
> **"_No._" Jim deadpanned, "_And how does a spitfire teenager start sounding like some kind of snotty highlander_? _I knew you were into that duchess lady we had to rescue one time_."**
> 
> **Dimitri groaned, "_I thought we put that thing to rest,_" he complained, wrapping his arms around Jim's waist and pulling the scowling boy to his lap, much to Jim's indignation. "_If I keep it the way you want, can you promise never to bring Anya up again_?"**
> 
> **"_Anya_?"**
> 
> **"_Lady Anastasia's Alias._"**
> 
> **"_Oh, so you're calling her intimately now_?"**
> 
> **Dimitri narrowed his eyes, staring right into Jim's. "_When you and Kate..._"**
> 
> **"_Okay_," Jim cuts him off, "_How about just start it off after the trial?_"**

─────── 

"He isn't guilty!" Jim declared adamantly, "he was abducted by those pirates, and put into forced child labor! It was against his will!"

Jack stepped in. "The lad speaks the truth," he said firmly, "Towards the end of the Treasure Planet expedition, Dimitri played a vital role in our survival, as much as Mr. Hawkins had. I vouch for his innocence and that he be given a lighter sentence, like the rest."

"We understand that," The Grand councilwoman of Crescentia, only second to the great Tsar, spoke calmly, but firmly. "But given the history of their crimes, surely a single act of goodness isn't sufficient to rectify their wrongs."

Jim frowned, worry in his eyes as he looked across to the witness stand, where Dimitri stood. The others were already sentenced to do time and community service, but it seemed that only Dimitri was having his sentence delayed, as records show part of his crimes as an accomplice to Drago involved forgery, allowing them access to places they managed to loot in over the years.

"While I acknowledge your sentiments, under the laws of Crescentia, we must proceed..."

Suddenly, a glowing light shone at the center of the court room. Jim blinked, and Jack widened his eyes beside him. Familiar with the display, he fly over to the center, before crouching down in a bow. As soon as he had, a short man dressed in a shining, silver suit appeared, beside him was Aster.

The man smiled, gesturing Jack to stand back up. Nodding at him once in acknowledgment, Jack flew back to stand by Jim. 

"Grand Councilwoman."

"Tsar Lunar," She nodded once, almost as if in reverence, "we are humbled by your presence in this court room. To what do I owe this visit?"

The Tsar floated towards her. "I would like to take this moment to help mediate this particular trial." He cleared his throat, "Under the law of Crescentia, it is right that, regardless of who the defendant is, what his background was, a crime committed must always be answered for. As accomplices to Drago Bludvist, these sailors will be punished accordingly. In this man's case, however, in spite of the fact that it was an order, it was still his act to go through with the crime of forgery."

"But—!"

"However," The Tsar continued, smiling at Jim and Dimitri respectively, "I also believe in the virtue of second chances. Why punish a young man who had suffered enough? Especially after he returned the hopes and dreams of another, who holds so much potential in his future?" He turned to the Grand councilwoman once more, "I move for a lighter sentence placed upon young Dimitri."

The Grand councilwoman nodded curtly, "Very well," She said. "And what does the Jury say about this?"

"In greatest respect to the Tsar, and in serious consideration over facts stated, we plead the defendant's innocence and agree to the terms of a lighter sentence."

Jim grinned as he rushed towards Dimitri, who laughed as he took the other boy in his arms.

"Guess I'm in your debt again," Dimitri smiled, brushing a loose fringe from Jim's face. "I'm broke though. Oh, they did take all the doubloons I managed to keep safe in custody. So, after we get that back, you can build up the inn again and we can call it even."

Jim chuckled, face flushed. He shook his head, as he threw his arms around the taller man's neck, "Shut up, dimwit." he grinned, before leaning up to give him a long-awaited kiss.

Dimitri was more than happy to return it.

───────

In the end, with his probation sentence, Jack and Aster got assigned as supervising officers at the duration of Dimitri's arrest. Luckily, Jim had volunteered his home, so it turned to be a house arrest. Sarah and Silver were shock beyond belief when they went to meet up with Jim after the trial, but they were more than happy to welcome Dimitri into their home that was now going to be rebuilt, much to the couple's delight. Sarah couldn't help but shed tears as she wrapped both young boys in her arms, only slightly startled by a little morph who wanted to join in.

As for Dimitri, while he wasn't able to leave the Inn for the time being, he occupied his time by learning his way through the kitchen and helping out the family business.

Towards the end of his probation, the building of the new Benbow Inn had finished, among other things. And to celebrate the completion, they held a grand party. Regular customers plus family friends were invited, and Sarah couldn't be more happy. She even got to see Silver in a nice suit, for once in her life. They didn't have much when they married, so a clean shirt was all Silver wore when they signed the marriage papers.

Toothless punctuated the ribbon cutting by launching a series of plasma blasts into the skies, before they continued the party inside. The party had been underway, and everyone was having a good time. B.E.N. taking it upon himself to keep the food coming, when the door slammed open, the two robot cops at the other end. Sarah and Silver stared wide-eyed at the display, worried about what this meant. However, it turned out, they were police escorts, because Jim and Dimitri were revealed to be wearing their cadet uniforms to the Interstellar Academy. Aster stood between them with an approving grin on his face, happy to announce that they've been accepted to the academy. Even Dimitri, who had been given a clean slate after properly serving his probation.

Sarah and Silver couldn't be any more proud.

_It's good to see the sun, a__nd feel this place,_  
_This place I never thought would feel like home..._

Jim chuckled shyly, after being released from Silver's bone crushing hug, and being set back down on the floor. He rubbed the back of his neck as he spared a glance toward Dimitri, who only smiled back at him, feeling the happiest he ever had in a long time. He takes a good look at the new and improved Benbow Inn, and indescribable elation filled his heart.

After Drago had taken him away all those years ago, he never believed that he could be happy ever again. He thought that back then, being stuck as a cabin boy and merely taking orders, would be his life until the day he took his last breath, in the company of people who could care less for him.

_I ran forever, far away,_  
_And always thought I'd end up here alone..._

Dimitri yelped as Silver picked him up as well, and laughed all the while praying he hadn't broken a spine. Suddenly, the room filled with snowflakes showering down on them, courtesy of Hiccup's date. Oddly enough, it didn't seem to affect the temperature as it still felt warm thanks to the grand fire place nearby, if only slightly chilled now. Jack grinned proudly at the wonder that filled the guests' eyes, giving a mock bow as if responding to their silent thanks. Hiccup rolled his eyes, before pulling the man into a dance.

When Silver had placed Dimitri back to the floor, the two could only stop and stare as they watched Jim leading his mother to the dance floor. They watched, content, as mother and son had their moment of blissful joy, which had been something they deserved and had been long overdue. 

_This is my life now... _Dimitri thought, contented that for all his messed up past, he was glad to have played a part in making it happen. _Now and forever..._

_Somehow the world has changed and I've come home,   
To give you back the things they took from you..._

Jim leaned in to give Sarah a chaste kiss to the cheek, before calling Silver over. The family shared embraces before Silver took Sarah and resumed the dance Jim ended, starting with raising her to the air and twirling her around once. Sarah chuckled as Jim rushed towards Dimitri. 

"Come on!" Jim grinned, and without giving the other a chance to reply, he started dragging Dimitri out the door. "Let's go!"

Dimitri laughed as he lets himself be dragged, "And where are we going this time, pup?"

Jim didn't answer, instead bringing to Dimitri to Sarah's improved garden, and to the pavilion, where his previously impounded vehicle was parked. Jim grinned, looking towards Dimitri excitedly. "I cut a deal with the officers," He said, "As long as I stay clear from any restricted sites now and in the near future, we should be all right."

"Really?" Dimitri smirked, crossing his arms, "The rebellious pup following the rules?"

Jim rolled his eyes, but his smile didn't falter in the slightest. He got his solar surfer ready and beckoned Dimitri to come closer, "Shut up, dimwit. You're officially a free man, we need to celebrate it properly."

"And that party inside isn't celebration enough?"

Jim narrowed his eyes, "I'm this close to leaving you in the dust." 

Dimitri laughed once more, before finally complying and got on board. As soon as his hands were placed around Jim's waist, the younger cadet blasted off. Dimitri hanged on to Jim for dear life, not entirely comfortable with this form of flying, especially after being forced to fly when aiding Jim during the end of their voyage.

But he believed in Jim, and as long as he had him, Dimitri knew he could face whatever the future had in store for them.

_And I feel you now, I'm not alone_  
_I always know where you are_

_When I see myself_  
_I always know where you are _

_Where you are..._

> **"_End scene._" Dimitri grinned, as he finally held the last page of his first book, a novel type of biography. "_They'll make this into a motion book, I just know it._"**
> 
> **Jim rolled his eyes, but smiled at his boyfriend anyway. "_Maybe get it to your editor first before making more plans for it._" He advised,_ "And didn't you say it was a two book deal? With how long it took for you to finish this one, you might as well get started on the second now._"**
> 
> **"_Jim! Jim!_" A familiar voice called out, before Hiccup came into the room. "_Have you seen Jack?! Because I am going to kill him!_"**
> 
> **Dimitri and Jim shared a knowing look. The author laughed, a hand to his check, "_Why? What did he do this time_?" Dimitri asked. "_Froze your underpants_?"**
> 
> **"_He got me pregnant_!"**
> 
> **Jim's jaw came unhinged, and Dimitri fell off his chair. They stared at the brunette, wide-eyed. "_Uh..._" Jim managed to compose himself first, "_Aren't you a little too... Male for that_? _I mean, it'd make more sense if..._"**
> 
> **"** **_Jack got pregnant? Yeah, but he had the Tsar _ bless **_**me with the** _ **_privilege instead_. _Because he has a low pain tolerance._** **" Hiccup groused, absolutely furious. "_I swear, if I get my hands on him..._"**
> 
> **Then, Jack suddenly appeared out of thin air, having the sense to look sheepish. Jim and Dimitri widened their eyes, almost having a heart attack, until they remembered Jack had learned the skill to turn invisible during their cadet years.**
> 
> **"_But Hic, you said you'd love it if I was able to give you kids._"**
> 
> **"_Yeah, you! Not me! Do you have any idea how painful this is gonna be?!"_**
> 
> **"_Well, that's kinda why I..._" Jack trailed off at his husband's glare, "_Ehem, er, to be fair, I didn't expect Manny to take it literally when it came up..._"**
> 
> **"_You casually bring up our sex life in a conversation?!_"**
> 
> **Jim sighed, shaking his head. "_Why do I know you people?_"**
> 
> **"_They keep life interesting, that's for sure._" Dimitri snickered, before standing up to wrap his arms around Jim. "_Then again, all I need is you for that, huh pup_?" He nuzzled his neck, his usual way of asking for a kiss.**
> 
> **"_Dimwit_." Jim snorted, rolling his eyes, but complied all the same. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Grand Councilwoman is the one from Lilo and Stitch, if that wasn't clear. Because in a story with humans and aliens and star spirits, why not?
> 
> Also, saving the rest of the song for the next epilogue, at the sequel.
> 
> And I do not know a thing about court trial proceedings, so bear with this attempt of a narrative regarding it. And I'm really not all that happy about it. Maybe if I know more about it in the future, I might rewrite this chapter.
> 
> Anyway, it's finally done. Gonna think up a plot now for the sequel.
> 
> [Edit] I added Toothless and Aster in here, hang me now for forgetting about him the first time damn it.

**Author's Note:**

> Since I made a Jimitri, Anastasia AU, thought it was only fair to have a Treasure Planet one too.


End file.
